Chapter 15. What is Netscape Server API?

Read this chapter to gain a basic understanding of the Netscape Server API (NSAPI).

NSAPI is a programming interface that allows developers to extend the functionality of web server software by creating applications (referred to as plug-ins) that run inside the server process itself.

The goal of NSAPI, and its plug-ins, is to provide a method of creating different functional interfaces between the web server and the back-end applications which run on it.

The NSAPI plug-ins are designed to implement Server Application Functions (SAFs). SAFs consume a HTTP request and take input from a server configuration database, and return a response to the client based on the inputs. Each SAF is linked to a particular class, which directly relates to the request-response step it helps implement.

The request-response steps (classes) are summarized in the following list:

You are not required to provide a SAF for each request-response step: NSAPI allows you to substitute your own custom functionality to the core request-response steps. You also have the choice of applying the SAF globally, or constraining the SAF to a directory, file group, or individual file.