Building a Simple Thin client program Page 1 of 6

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Building a Simple Thin client program

There is no one way to build a Thin client program, but the following procedure demonstrates how to develop a simple, unsecured Thin client program.

Project and Project Settings

Step 1: Configure Project Settings

1. On the Project tab of the ribbon, in the Web group, click Thin Clients to open the Project Settings > Web dialog.

¡ In the Data Server IP Address field, enter the IP address of your PC (as viewed from the network). E.g. 192.168.1.100

You can get IP address from the Network Settings in the Control Panel, or putting the function GetComputerIP() in a Rectangle Object on a screen and
running the project.

¡ Check the Auto Screen Scaling, Enable File Compression, and Enable Tooltips checkboxes.
¡ Click on the Firewall button. If necessary, uncheck the Enable checkbox. Click OK.
¡ Click on the Advanced Button. If necessary, uncheck the Web Tunneling Gateway Enabled checkbox. Click OK.

2. On the Home tab, click Runtime Tasks to open the Runtime Tasks dialog box and set the TCP/IP Server task Startup to Automatic. (Highlight the task,
click the Startup button, choose Automatic, then click OK.) Then click OK to exit the dialog.

Step 2: Configure Database

1. In the Development Environment, select the Global tab of the Project Explorer. Open the Project Tags folder.
2. Be sure the project tags are properly set to either Server or Local. If the tags are to be exposed to the Web Client, then set them to Server, otherwise set to

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Local.

Step 3: Develop your Screens and create HTML screens

1. Develop your project screen. Depending on your Thin Client screen size, you may want to develop a separate set of screens with a different resolution. Auto
Screen scaling is supported (enabled in a prior step), but auto screen scaling naturally has limitations.
2. Save and close all project screens.
3. Be sure you have defined a Startup Screen (Viewer on the Project tab of the ribbon).
4. You can save individual screens as HTML by selecting the Save as HTML or Save Screen Group as HTML options in the File menu, or save all Screens and
Screen Groups as HTML by selecting the Save All as HTML option.
5. If you are just updating a Screen, and especially when you make any configuration changes to the Web settings, you should run the Verify Project tool (i.e., on
the Home tab of the ribbon, in the Tools group, click Verify).
6. The HTML (web) pages will be stored in the Web sub-folder of your project folder.

Configuring Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS)

The following are the basic steps to configuring IIS, although depending on your network and operating system environment, additional settings may need to be
configured such as user security.

1. If Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) isn't enabled on your computer, turn on IIS for thin client access.
2. Open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager. The IIS icons and the Start button circled in red (below) will be used for this procedure.

3. In the Connections pane, select (click) Default Web Site. Then, in the Actions pane, click Basic Settings.... In the Edit Site dialog, use the Physical path
browse button to select the Web folder of your project as shown below, and click OK to close the dialog.

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4. Right-click Default Web Site to open the Site Bindings dialog. If necessary use the Add and Edit buttons to set the Port to 80 as shown below.

5. If your web server is behind a Proxy, check the Enable HTTP keep-alive checkbox. This setting can be enabled always (and is the default setting).

To get to this setting, double-click the HTTP Response Headers icon in the center pane of the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager (circled in red
above). This changes the center pane to HTTP Response Headers and changes the options in the Actions pane. In the Actions pane, click Set Common
Headers to open the Set Common HTTP Response Headers dialog. Check the Enable HTTP keep-alive checkbox if it is not already checked. Then click OK to
close the dialog. The arrow in the upper left corner of the dialog (circled below) can be used to navigate back to the main view in the center pane of the
Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

6. Add the screen file to the list of MIME types. To do this, double-click the MIME Types icon in the center pane of the Internet Information Services (IIS)
Manager (circled in red above). This changes the center pane to MIME Types and changes the options in the Actions pane. In the Actions pane, click Add to
open the Add MIME Type dialog. Fill in the Fine name extension field with .scc and the MIME type field with application/studio as shown below. Click OK
to close the dialog, and use the arrow in the upper left corner of the dialog (circled below) to navigate back to the main view in the center pane of the Internet
Information Services (IIS) Manager.

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7. Depending on your network security, you may need to settings for Anonymous Authentication (double-click the Authentication icon) or secure
communication (double-click the Server Certificates icon). Check with your network administrator and check Microsoft documentation for more information.

8. If necessary, start IIS by using the Start button in main Actions pane ( ), circled in the first IIS Manager image above.

Using Edge as Internet Explorer

If you are using Microsoft Edge as your browser instead of Microsoft Internet Explorer, follow these steps to allow Microsoft Edge to browse your project:

1. Open Microsoft Edge and open the Settings.

2. In the Settings tab, select Default browser, then in the Allow site to be reloaded in Internet Explorer mode (IE mode) drop down menu, select Allow.
When the Restart button appears, click it to restart Microsoft Edge with the new settings.

Running the Application

1. If necessary, click the Internet Information Services (IIS) Start button.
2. Run the project (click Run on the Home tab of the ribbon).
3. Start the browser, and type the address of the starting screen (home webpage). E.g. http://192.168.1.100/startup.html

Tip: The startup display or screen group name has an HTML file extension when accessed using the browser.

4. If you are using Microsoft Edge configured to run in IE mode, right-click the tab, and select Reload tab in Internet Explorer mode.

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5. Depending on your network and security settings, you may need to confirm one or more warnings or confirmation dialogs or messages, after which your project
will open.

Troubleshooting
l You can get more information on IIS by opening a browser and entering http://localhost/iishelp in the browser navigation address bar. Note that IIS must be
running.
l If you get a Cannot find Server error message,
¡ From the browser, ping the server IP address (primary and/or backup). You can ping using the IP address or use the NetBios name to ping the server
(e.g., from a command prompt enter
¡ Ping 152.57.100.25 or Ping ServerName.
¡ Be sure IIS is running
¡ Be sure your project is running
¡ Make sure the TCP/IP Server (in the project's Tasks) is running
¡ Be sure IIS is set to the correct Home Page (root directory).
¡ Be sure the Port addresses are correct (HTTP – Port 80, HTTPS (SSL) – Port 443, Data – Port 1234)
¡ Make sure you firewall has these ports open
¡ If you are using a Windows Embedded device, be sure ISSymbol is properly loaded and registered
¡ Be sure your runtime license supports the Web Client configuration

Tip:

A web server typically runs on, or "listens to", a computer's TCP/IP port 80. Only one process can run on a given port, however, so if another process on
your computer — for example, some third-party SCADA software — is already running on port 80, then it and the web server process might conflict with
each other. You must either configure one of the processes to run on a different port or use Task Manager to end the conflicting process. If you cannot
identify the conflicting process, open Command Prompt and enter the following command to get a list of all networking processes:

netstat -a -o

 

l If you get a Page cannot be displayed error message,

¡ From the browser, ping the server IP address
¡ Stop and restart IIS
¡ Be sure the MIME types are properly set
¡ Make sure you updated your web pages (i.e., Save as HTML) and use the Verify Project tool if you change any Web settings.
¡ Verify the Windows security settings are properly set
¡ Be sure that the Screen name (and Web Page name) do not have any spaces in the name
l If the web pages are incorrect:
¡ Be sure you are pointing to the correct primary URL
¡ Be sure your backup URL (if you use it) has the correct (updated) web pages

About MIME
l MIME, or Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, types instruct a Web browser how to handle files received from a server. For example, when a Web browser
requests an item on a server, it also requests the MIME type of the object. Some MIME types, like graphics, can be displayed inside the browser. Others, such
as word processing documents, require an external helper program to be displayed.

When IIS delivers a Web page to a client Web browser, it also sends the MIME type of the data it is sending. If there is an attached or embedded file in a
specific format, IIS also tells the client program the MIME type of the embedded or attached file. The client program then knows how to process or display the
data being received from IIS.

IIS serves only files with known extensions registered in the MIME types list or with the operating system. IIS allows you to configure additional MIME types
and change or remove MIME types. Removing a MIME type in IIS does not block access to that MIME type by other programs if it is also registered with the
operating system.

IIS is preconfigured to recognize a default set of global MIME types. These MIME types are recognized by all Web sites you create in IIS. MIME types can also
be defined at the Web site and directory levels, independent of one another or the types defined globally. When you view MIME types at the Web site or
directory level, only the types unique to that level are displayed, not all types inherited from the next level up.

l IIS returns a 404.3 error if a client request refers to a file name extension that is not defined in the MIME types
l MIME types should include all file extensions found in the Web directory. These include:
¡ .app
¡ .bin
¡ .csv

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¡ .cwf
¡ .gis
¡ .html
¡ .ico
¡ .ini
¡ .lst
¡ .rtgis
¡ .scc
¡ .scr
¡ .sg
¡ .stmp
¡ .tra
¡ .trn
¡ .txt
¡ .wjson

Parent topic: Thin Clients

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