| Windows CE Web server targets embedded apps |
Oct. 31, 2007
OpenNETCF Consulting has announced a small-footprint Web server that runs on Windows CE 5.0 and 6.0. "Padarn" provides a subset of Microsoft's ASP.NET application framework, and can be used to create Web-based front ends for almost any embedded system, the company claims.
OpenNETCF says Padarn lets embedded developers leverage existing ASP.NET code and developer resources. Using Padarn also helps facilitate sharing code bases across platforms, the company adds.
"Padarn web pages have full access to device resources, so they can inspect and affect hardware, they can use databases or write files or just about anything that any other application can do," the company said in its announcement. Additionally, as long as a device has network connectivity, it can be reached from any browser running on any platform.
Padarn running on a Windows CE-based server
The company cautions that Padarn is not suitable for enterprise Web servers, e-commerce, or any other type of usage that will have a large volume of clients attached at once. On the other hand, Padarn is said to be ideal for remotely configuring, updating, and querying data.
According to OpenNETCF, developers creating web-based interfaces for Windows CE devices previously had two options: creating an ASP 3.0 web page, or creating an ISAPI filter. "Both are very challenging to debug since you cannot attach the Visual Studio debugger to the server, making development frustrating, time-consuming, and very expensive," the company added.
In contrast, OpenNETCF says, Padarn is a managed assembly that can be added to a "smart device" project, providing all the debugging capabilities of Visual Studio 2005. "You can set break points, step through code and use all of the other debugging tools that developers have come to rely on," the company said.
The company has two demonstration Windows CE Web servers online, both running on limited-resource, embedded style hardware. The first, running on an eBox-2300 with a 200 MHz Vortex86 processor, is available here. The second, running on an Applied Data Systems Sphere with an ARM-based Cirrus E9315 processor, is available here.
According to OpenNETCF, Padarn ships with full source code and project files for a sample Web site that can be used as a template. The included developers guide walks through setting up a solution that allows easy debugging, the company says.
Padarn is available now, according to the company. Pricing information was not provided, but licensing information may be obtained from the company's website, here.
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