HSP    Tutorial

HSP is a client side, ASP compatible webserver plug-in DLL for Internet Explorer. HSP makes it possible to run ASP webpages on any Windows PC without a webserver involved.  You can run ASP pages in either Internet Explorer or the Microsoft webbrowser ActiveX control. With HSP, you can code the same mixed HTML and VBScript webpages, using the familiar ASP objects (Application, Session, Server, Request and Response). The only difference is that it runs entirely on the client Windows machine - by a single DLL. Display dynamically-generated HTML in your Windows apps in embedded webbrowser controls just like Microsoft does in their new applications.  Here are the main ways HSP is being used today:

• Embedded webbrowser controls in Windows forms to display dynamically generated HTML (usually from a database).
• Use HSP with our EzWeb Compiler (EzStor) to be ship entire ASP or static HTML websites to your customers and clients.
• Running ASP websites "offline" for better speed, security or no Internet connection available.  For example, create offline catalogs that can collect order info offline, then connect to and post to your website when ready.
• Running company Intranets in conjunction with HSP.  This distributes the computing load, thus relieving the server from unnecessary work, and also speeding up the page loads for the users, giving them a much better experience.
• HSP and EzWeb Compiler is a great way to protect your intellectual property (IP) since EzWeb Compiler files are secure.
• New: Use HSP with Zoom to add a search engine to your CD/DVD!  Click here to learn more about Zoom search technology. 

"HSP is making our lives much easier! Especially when customers want to check out early drafts from large ASP-sites, HSP can perform miracles by just sending the site as one EzWeb Compiler file together with the HSP installer to them."
--Ruud van Gestel

HSP works with our EzWeb Compiler.  You compile all of your ASP/HTML/graphic content into a single file and HSP reads it directly in Internet Explorer.  Its a very simple, tightly integrated system.

Run your programs in our custom HSP Browser to avoid the annoying IE script warning message.  Its a simple "shell" program that hosts the same Microsoft Webbrowser component that IE uses.   The difference is that it has only what is needed by your HSP Application to navigate and open files.  The sample in the download uses it, so please have a look.

Web-enable your Windows programs

HSP  means NO WEBSERVER REQUIRED to be able to run ASP pages on Windows client machines. The HSP pluggable protocol is essentially an ASP webserver in a single DLL. Transform your IE web browser or embedded web browser ActiveX control into a dynamic, interactive programming environment. Create and display dynamic webpages in your applications (web browser control) or right inside Internet Explorer. Many people see the web browser as the ideal place to run desktop applications. HSP is the first product that makes it possible to create "browser applications". You can do the same things you do with server-side ASP, but it all happens inside Internet Explorer with no Internet connection. Here are just some of the things you can do with HSP:

• Use HSP with WOW to generate HTML dynamically for your user interfaces.
• Hyperlink your relational database data
• Create dazzling Windows Forms, Splash windows, and About Boxes.

• Company profiles / product catalogs to distribute on CD

• Interactive Install programs and Educational software products using HTML/ASP
• Ship entire ASP websites on CD
• HSP makes IE the ultimate Web Services client. Display Web Service result data in embedded webbrowser ActiveX controls.
• Write "Browser-based" apps. The WebBrowser can be the ideal place to write certain types of applications. Or write "hybrid apps" - programs that mix webbrowser controls inside VB, Delphi or C++ programs.
• HSP is the ultimate Report Writer, easily allowing you to merge HTML with database data, or any kind of data.
• Use HTML Forms to collect user input, just as you would from a website, to store in a local database or use in your program.
• Mix ActiveX controls on your HTML pages to create incredible HSP apps that run either in IE or IEX.
• NO MORE PERSONAL WEBSERVER needed!!!
• HSP is the ultimate Windows Scripting Host

With HSP you get:

• An ASP webserver in a single DLL
• ASP compatible client-side scripting

HSP has excellent compatibility with MS ASP/IIS.  HSP now supports all but a few methods/properties of the complete ASP API.  Additionally, HSP now supports streaming, so loading large files don't have to completely load before beginning to display (especially useful for large Flash movies).  HSP also has better support for other document types, such as PDF and Microsoft Office Docs.

We have combined 3 key Microsoft "off the shelf" technologies - Internet Explorer + Pluggable Protocols + Windows Scripting - to invent a new type of Windows program - the "Browser App". It is analogous to a Web App (or website program), but it runs entirely on the Windows machine - with no Internet connection. Your HSP programs run right inside Internet Explorer (be sure to download PowerPad  to see HSP fully demonstrated in a cool Browser App. You also get a sample database viewer application with the HSP download. With this useful Browser App, you can browse any SQL database and execute any SQL commands).

At the heart of HSP are pluggable protocols and Windows scripting engines. We have coded HSP to implement a subset of the ASP API. This means you can write the same mixed HTML/VBScript webpages as you would for server-side ASP. If you can code ASP, then you can code for HSP! You can even run Flash files with HSP. And all on the user's machine with no Internet connection. Its literally an ASP webserver in a single DLL. And with Windows .NET, it is easier than ever to embed webbrowser controls and run ASP webpages in your Windows programs to generate HTML dynamically.

And using our EzWeb Compiler product, you can stuff all of your content files into a single file to be read by the HSP DLL - even an entire ASP website. Your final distributable file set will consist of a single file (not including the HSP DLL). Get our downloads to see examples of HSP applications living in a single file. With this technique, your application code is securely protected from user-tampering and even copy protected.

HSP lets you completely simulate a webserver from within Internet Explorer. HSP pages are automatically and seamlessly loaded and executed by IE, so it is transparent to the user. Here are a few more ideas of what you can do with HSP:

• Hyperlink your data.  This is one of the coolest things you can do with HSP.  Hyperlinking is ideal for relational database data.
• Use HSP as a front-end for .NET Web Services. You can do all of your Web Service processing and display in ASP pages run in the client browser.
• Use hidden web browser ActiveX controls for printing generated output.
• Create static or dynamic HTML-based presentations (using PowerPoint for example) to send to others and run in Internet Explorer.

• Company profiles / product catalogs to distribute on CD

• Create dynamic setup/installation programs.
• Create training/Education content, Quizes, Tutorials, Surveys or Demos that require dynamic content that you want to distribute on CD.
• Create Help/Documentation files to distribute and view with the EzWeb Compiler Viewer.

HSP works seamlessly with IE and behaves just like ASP, but without the need for IIS or Personal Webserver. HSP runs in a single DLL. The only requirement is IE and the HSP DLL.

HSP is a compatible subset of ASP, so you can have code like this in your webpage:

Hello <% = "World" %>

which would produce this webpage output:

Hello World

If you had a QueryString or Form value passed with a user name, you could write:

Hello <% Response.Write Request("UserName") %>

In fact, you'll be able to do just about anything with HSP that you could do with ASP, such as:

• Use ADO to read and write data in a database.
• Read and write to files.
• Use any scriptable COM object to do any task, such as connecting to a remote SOAP Web Service, executing a method and displaying the result data.

Programming HSP in the IE browser is just the same as programming ASP. That is, you write VBScript code mixed with HTML and run it without compiling. You get to see your output immediately in the browser.

Take advantage of new great new features of VBScript, such as VBScript Classes, which are COM objects implemented in VBScript code, complete with properties, methods and events.

HSP and WOW

Combine all of this with the Web On Windows (WOW) ActiveX control, and you can mix traditional VB and C++ programs with embedded webbrowser controls, that are themselves able to execute code and you have the ultimate ActiveX control. HSP works synergistically with the other EzTools products - EzWeb Compiler, WOW and EzReg.