mirabyte GmbH & Co. KG
 
Language / Sprache: Select English language Deutsche Sprache wählen
 
 You are here: Products > Discstarter > Extensions > Server2Go

Discstarter & Server2Go Tutorial

InformationScreenshotsFeaturesDownloadPurchaseReferencesExtensions


XML PAD (Portable Application Description)
HTML Factsheet

Abstract: Discstarter is a highly customizable offline browser that displays HTML menus and front-ends on CD-ROMs. Discstarter offers many features that give simple HTML pages the look and feel of a fully engineered multimedia application. Though Discstarter can only display static HTML pages, interactivity is limited to the use of hyperlinks and JavaScript or DHTML in general. Server2Go basically is a customized configuration of a WAMP (Apache Web server, PHP and the MySQL running on a Windows operating system) that is able to be executed directly from CD-ROM without any installation or setup required. Server2Go allows you to run Web applications directly from CD-ROM with the same functionality as you would get when running them on your normal Internet Web server. This tutorial describes how to use Discstarter and Server2Go together in order to combine the professional look and feel of a fully customized browser with the power of a CD-ROM Web server. This enables you to create never seen before "desktop applications" that are based on your favorite programming languages such as PHP or Perl and can rely on databases such as MySQL or SQLite.

Requirements: You need to download the following packages before you can start:

Discstarter (3.1 or higher)
- English version: http://www.mirabyte.com/en/discstarter/<//link>
- German version: http://www.mirabyte.com/de/discstarter<//link>/

(Please notice that Server2Go will only work with the Trial Version, the Project License or the Publishers License of Discstarter. The Personal License does not support the integration with Server2Go!)

Server2Go - http://www.server2go-web.de/<//link>

Installation: Please install Discstarter on your computer and unzip the Server2Go package into a folder of your choice, preferably the designated master directory of the CD-ROM you want to create.

Preparing the Discstarter Runtime System: The Discstarter Runtime System ("autostart.exe") is the browser that will display your HTML pages. It has been installed into the Discstarter program folder on your computer and needs to be copied to the CD-ROM master directory.

  1. Now copy "autostart.exe" from the Discstarter installation directory (usually "c:\program files\mirabyte\Discstarter\") to the designated master directory which is the folder where you have just unzipped the Server2Go package.
  2. Then rename "autostart.exe" in this folder to "discstarter.exe" since the Discstarter Runtime System will not be called directly any more to show your CD-ROM menu.

Preparing Server2Go: In the designated master directory you have to make some modifications to the Server2Go package in order to work smoothly with Discstarter:

  1. Delete the "autorun.inf" file.
  2. Delete the "readme.txt" file or move it to another location in order to take a look at it later.
  3. Rename the "server2go.exe" to a more speaking name such as "start.exe" or "autostart.exe". This will be the file you need to execute in order to show your CD-ROM menu. But do not execute this file yet.
  4. If you do not want to display a splash screen on startup, remove the file "splash.bmp" or exchange it with your own splash screen file.
  5. If your application does not require a database management system such as MySQL or SQLite, remove the folder "dbdir".
  6. If you do not want to use cgi-bin, you can also remove the folder "cgi-bin".
  7. Now, clear all files inside the folder "htdocs". Though, it might be a good idea to make a backup copy of the "documentation.html" file before, because in this file the complete configuration of Server2Go is explained.
  8. If you prefer another name for the folder that will store your applications’ files, simply rename the folder to a name that you prefer.
  9. Copy your application with all files (*.html, *.php, *.pl, images, etc.) into "htdocs" or, if you have renamed this folder, to the corresponding one.
  10. Now, open "pms_config.ini" with Notepad or any other text editor and make the following changes:
  • Change "DefaultFile" and "DefaultRoot" to the new values if you changed the name of the "htdocs" folder before or if the start page of your application is any other that "index.php".
  • Change "BrowserType" to EXTERNAL .
  • Change "BrowserPath" to "discstarter.exe".
  • Make any other changes that are required for your project (e.g. disable database support or slash screen). Please refer to the Server2Go documentation in "documentation.html "(see above).
  • Finally save the "pms_config.ini".

Configuring your CD-ROM menu: Now start the Discstarter Designer. In the Windows start menu, you find a shortcut to this application in the folder "Discstarter ":

  1. First create a new Discstarter project and choose as location for the project file ("autorun.inf" do not use any other name here!) the designated master directory.
  2. Now choose as "Start file to execute" the Server2Go executable that you have renamed to something like "start.exe" or "autostart.exe" in the very first step of this tutorial. Do NOT choose "discstarter.exe" here as you would normally do when using Discstarter without Server2Go.
  3. Then, select your start page (e.g. index.php) as start page in the Discstarter Designer. Please notice that Discstarter by default will only show HTML files here. You have to change the file type of the open file dialog to "All Files (*.*)" in order to also see *.php or *.pl files.
  4. After that, you can customize your CD-ROM menu the way you want using the options that are offered by the Discstarter Designer. Please refer to the Discstarter online manual for details. You can change the window type, window size and many other things.
  5. Finally save the Discstarter Project.

Testing and Running the CD-ROM: In order to try out if everything works fine, just execute the Server2Go executable ("start.exe" or "autostart.exe"). If you chose the splash screen option, the splash screen should come up immediately. Otherwise it might take some seconds to load the application. Then the Discstarter window should show up and display the start page of your project.

License and legal information: Discstarter is a commercial application. If you want to use Discstarter for your CD-ROM project, please obtain a license. More details can be found on the Discstarter website (see above). Server2Go is a donationware project. If you like Server2Go, please make a donation to the author. Details can be found on the Server2Go website (see above). Server2Go uses several Open Source applications such as the Apache Web Server, PHP, Perl, MySQL and SQLite. Please make sure that your way of using Server2Go complies with the license agreements that come with these applications. More details are available on the websites of these applications and in the license documents that can be found in the "/server/" folder of the Server2Go package.

Copyright: This tutorial is copyright (c) 2006 by mirabyte GmbH & Co. KG, Germany. It may not be published without the written permission of the authors. Discstarter, the Discstarter logo, mirabyte and the mirabyte logo are registered trademarks of mirabyte GmbH & Co. KG, Germany. Server2Go is a donationware project of Timo Haberkern. We thank Timo for his great project and his support while writing this tutorial. All other product or brand names are trademarks of their respective owners.

 
Copyright © 1998-2008 by mirabyte® GmbH & Co. KG - This page: Bookmark (IE only) Print XHTML