A development services company in Italy has released a dual-licensed, multi-platform HTTP/S server aimed at helping developers of small embedded devices create NUIs (network user interfaces) based on static or dynamic web pages. KLone features C/C++ scripting libraries, ROM-able build options, and advanced HTTP features such as sessions and cookies.

According to Stefano Barbato, of KoanLogic's Rome office, KLone allows developers to write dynamic content in C/C++, eliminating external execution environments such as perl or PHP, while improving performance and lowering CPU utilization. Server footprint is about 150KB, exclusive of dynamic page content, he says.

Developers use what Barbato calls “the normal scripting style” of % code %>. A special C/C++ compiler is then used to transform the content into native code that is “then linked to the HTTP/S server skeleton, to obtain one single, ROM-able, binary file,” Barbato said.

KLone's SDK includes libraries aimed at simplifying the otherwise daunting task of writing dynamic web pages in C/C++. An additional interesting possibility is the architecture's support for other C/C++ libraries. “It can be linked natively to any C/C++ library (database, XML, graphics, etc.), without an intermediate layer,” Barbato says.

KoanLogic says that KLone supports relatively advanced HTTP/S features, including three session-tracking methods (file-based, volatile memory-based, and cookies), and parsing of GET or POST form variables. Additional claimed features include:

• HTTP 1.0 compliance
• HTTP over TLS/SSL
• Virtual hosting
• Static content can be compressed and/or AES-encrypted with 256-bit keys on the fly, based on browser capabilities or fixed settings
• Server and content can be stored in ROM, without loss of functionality compared to filesystem-based deployments

Availability

KLone is available now as an SDK, under a commercial license or the GNU GPL. It is distributed as an SDK that includes a site compiler, C helper libraries, and documentation in Unix man page and HTML formats.

Support for the free (GPL) version is available in a mailing list and user forum. A distributable application license is available for 1,890 Euros, for those wishing to redistribute software applications based on KLone. A basic commercial license with email support costs 850 Euros, while a priority support contract with 24-hour email response (excluding weekends) costs 1,900 Euros.

For device vendors, licenses are priced from 3,200 Euros, for up to 500 units, to 17,400 Euros, for up to 100,000 units.

 
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