Invoking Your COBOL Application with the Web Runtime

There are a number of approaches you can take to invoke your COBOL application from your Web page. You can:

• Use the <OBJECT> tag to invoke the application and Web control.

  Using an <OBJECT> tag, you can invoke your application and the Web runtime with a single HTML element. If you add the CODEBASE attribute, users can automatically download the control the first time they access the application, and get updates automatically. The browser checks the clsid attribute and downloads a new version of the control, if one is available. In addition, we have developed a Web runtime object interface containing several properties and methods for communicating with browsers. If desired, you can implement all of the properties in the object interface as attributes of the <OBJECT> tag. Advanced users may choose to instantiate their application with the <OBJECT> tag, and then write scripts with the Web runtime object interface to invoke the application. Please note that scripting the Web runtime may require changes to your end users' security settings. The <OBJECT> tag is by far the most flexible method of invoking your application with the Web runtime; therefore, it is the method that we recommend for most situations. See How Internet Explorer Security Affects the Web Runtime for more information.

• Embed your COBOL application in the HTML document using the HTML <EMBED> tag.

  This is convenient for sites that have already used the <EMBED> element with our Web Plug-in; however, the <EMBED> tag does not offer the capability of automatically downloading the Web runtime component, and it is not strictly part of the HTML specification. If you EMBED an application on your Web page, end users who visit your site and have already installed the ACUCOBOL-GT Web Runtime immediately start executing the first embedded object code on the page.

• Create a hyperlink to your COBOL application by placing the HTML anchor tags <A> and </A> in the HTML document.

  If you set up your object as a hyperlink (using the <ANCHOR tags>), end users who visit your Web page can run the program by clicking on the program's link. However, this method gives you the least amount of control over how your application is displayed, and it does not offer the capability of automatically downloading the Web runtime component.