Henry Leinen / HTTPServer

Single instance HTTP Server using new Ethernet Interface.

Dependents:   EthHTTPServer if201410_section5 _PE2E_12-04_EthernetInterfaceServer MGAS_GR_Peach ... more

Fork of WiFlyHTTPServer by Henry Leinen

Desciprtion of the library

Overview

This is an HTTPServer library using the new MBED EthernetInterface library. It allows you to :

• serve files from any file System
• use Remote procedure calls
• extend the HTTPServer functionality according to your needs, using the provided handler classes or writing new classes. The following sections will give you a brief overview of how to use the library.

Usage description

You can use the library as file server, as RPC server or a combination of both. You can even define your own behaviour by deriving from one of the classes provided.

Use as file server

You may want to look at my sample application which allows you to serve files from the internal local storage of the mbed with no modifcation of the code :

#include "mbed.h"
#include "HTTPServer.h"
#include "FsHandler.h"
#include "LocalFileSystem.h"

//  Use LED1 to indicate that the main loop is still executing
DigitalOut myled(LED1);
//  Use the serial connection 'pc' to dump debug information
Serial pc(USBTX, USBRX, "pc");
//  Instantiate a HTTPServer to handle incoming requests
HTTPServer  svr;
//  Instantiate a local file system handler named 'local' which will be used later to access files on the mbed.
LocalFileSystem local("local");


int main() {

    pc.baud(460800);
    HTTPFsRequestHandler::mount("/local/", "/");
    svr.addHandler<HTTPFsRequestHandler>("/");

    if (!svr.start()) {
       error("Server not starting !");
        exit(0);
    }
    
    while(1) {
        svr.poll();
        myled = 1;
        wait(0.2);
        myled = 0;
        wait(0.2);
    }
}

Another alternative is to provide the EthernetInterface library to the HTTPServer library. This may be useful in case you need to perform other tasks with your internet connection. In this case it is necessary that you initialize the EthernetInterface and perform the connection prior to calling the start() method. Here is the example :

#include "mbed.h"
#include "HTTPServer.h"
#include "FsHandler.h"
#include "LocalFileSystem.h"
#include "EthernetInterface.h"


//  Use LED1 to indicate that the main loop is still executing
DigitalOut myled(LED1);
//  Use the serial connection 'pc' to dump debug information
Serial pc(USBTX, USBRX, "pc");
//  Instantiate a HTTPServer to handle incoming requests
HTTPServer  svr;
//  Instantiate a local file system handler named 'local' which will be used later to access files on the mbed.
LocalFileSystem local("local");
//  Create the EthernetInterface. This is optional, please see the documentation of HTTP Server's start method.
EthernetInterface eth;


int main() {

    pc.baud(460800);
    HTTPFsRequestHandler::mount("/local/", "/");
    svr.addHandler<HTTPFsRequestHandler>("/");

    //  Initialize the EthernetInterface and initiate a connection using DHCP.
    eth.init();
    eth.connect();

    // ***
    // TODO: Perform other Tasks using the ethernet connection here.
    // ****
    
    // Now start the server on port 80.
    if (!svr.start(80, &eth)) {
        error("Server not starting !");
        exit(0);
    }
    
    // The whole server activity is performed in this Loop. You can also put it into a separate RTOS Task and let it run there all the time.
    while(1) {
        svr.poll();
        myled = 1;
        wait(0.2);
        myled = 0;
        wait(0.2);
    }
}

Use as remote procedure call (RPC) server

To access objects or resources via HTTP you can make use of the RPC functionality. Each object that shall be accessible via HTTP needs to be registered before use. Here is an example which Registers the DigitalOut class for use over RPC :

#include "mbed.h"
#include "HTTPServer.h"
#include "RpcHandler.h"
#include "mbed_rpc.h"

//  Use LED1 to indicate that the main loop is still executing
DigitalOut myled(LED1);
//  Use the serial connection 'pc' to dump debug information
Serial pc(USBTX, USBRX, "pc");
//  Instantiate a HTTPServer to handle incoming requests
HTTPServer  svr;


int main() {

    pc.baud(460800);
    RPC::add_rpc_class<RpcDigitalOut>();
    svr.addHandler<HTTPRpcRequestHandler>("/RPC");
    
    if (!svr.start()) {
        error("Server not starting !");
        exit(0);
    }
    
    while(1) {
        svr.poll();
        myled = 1;
        wait(0.2);
        myled = 0;
        wait(0.2);
    }
}

And using the above code, enter the following in the address field of your browser :

http://<your_mbed_ip>/RPC/DigitalOut/new LED4 myled4 - - > to create a new object of type DigitalOut on pin LED4 which can be referred to as 'myled4'.

and

http://<your_mbed_ip>/RPC/myled4/write 1 - - > to switch on the LED4.

Of course it is possible to Register your own objects with the standard MBED RPC functionality.

All the above Scenarios are implemented in a sample application, which will allow you to try out the functionality with basically no changes. If you want to try out the HTTP file Server, it is of course helpful to upload an html file to your MBED local storage.

Here is the sample application :

Future plans

Currently I am not considering to further extend this library. However, if someone needs extensions to this library, I will consider implementing them. Of course I will be taking care of bugfixes.

Known issues

Please note that the current implementation of the EthernetInterface seems to have an issue which results in unresponsive behaviour of the Sockets in some situations. This odd behaviour has not only been reported on my HTTPServer but also on other components using the EthernetInterface library.

Changed behaviour, so that now an EthernetInterface can be provided by user of the library as an alternative to having the HTTPServer being the owner.

; Example documentation Extended.