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So here it begins:
What is Miva Script?
Miva Script is a server-based computer language. If you mixed together DOS
batch files, Perl, PHP,
Cold Fusion, and dBase, then boiled them
to their lowest common denominator, you'd find Miva Script in the bottom of the
pan somewhere. It lets you write small programs in an easy-to-understand but
very powerful web language. These programs run on web servers and do fun stuff
that web servers usually can't do. Like 'on-the-fly' error checking of form
submissions,
use of IF/THEN logic to tailor web pages to the clients' browsers, natively read
and write xBase3-compatible database files; with indexes and field
types written for Cro-Magnon man. Kinda like ASP for the commoner.
We Ask Again: What Is Miva Script?
It is a computer language. It runs on web server computers. It does good
things. It is used by people who create and administer web sites.
What Can I Do With Miva Script?
Too much stuff to list here. Check out Miva's
web site for a larger clue. But Miva Script is mainly used for a range of
things from simple web forms to fully-integrated shopping cart applications. You
can use Miva Script to create your own database-driven web site with a level of
user configuration not usually available to "common" webmasters. It is
rather simple to learn, easy to adapt for a wide range of applications, and is
supported by a large number of economy-to-professional web hosting
providers.
Why Should I Use It?
Most likely because you happen to have a web site hosted by a provider who
has the Miva engine installed on your server. It's there, so you are here in
your quest to see
why. Or you provide hosting services and want to see if Miva might be a
value-added program for your users (it is). Or you maintain web servers on an
intranet and need a web database engine without the overhead and learning curve
of SQL, but that fits well into a LAN environment (it does).
How Does Miva Script Work?
No one knows. It is one of the great mysteries of the internet. Noted
historians recognize that the internet was originally created as a private
inter-network for Miva application developers. Past that the details are shrouded
in National Security skullduggery. If we told you how it works, we'd have to
kill your gerbils and turn them into winter coats for Barbie.
How Is "Miva" Pronounced?
Among aficionados the word Miva is properly pronounced "large
phallus", some others say "fragrant canyon of pleasure". We say
"bovine question".
What Machines Does It Run On?
You obviously have not visited the Miva Corp
web site. Shame. But we will take pity your slothful negligence; so (as of August 1999) the web
server platforms supported are:
Applications written on one server OS will run
(basically) the same on any of the other OS platforms. Runs happily alongside
Apache and other web servers on the Unix side, and runs as an ISAPI
plug-in under IIS
on NT4. You basically can use
it as a CGI, NSAPI,
ISAPI-compliant server
add-on. Integrates easily with standards-based stuff like: HTML,
XML, HTTP,
TCP/IP, POP3,
SMTP, ISAPI,
CGI, ODBC,
APACHE, UNIX,
SSL, NSAPI,
JAVASCRIPT, and JAVA.
If it runs on a web server, Miva will probably run along with it.
What's this stuff about Miva v4.0?
At the July 2000 Miva Developers Conference they announced that Miva generation 4 is
being developed. Although mention of "quarter 4 in 2000" was made, that seems vapor.
If we are real lucky there will be some beta appearance of the new version by Spring
2001. But at the same show they said that Merchant would not see any more release
versions before the new engine was available -- then returned to work to primp
Merchant v3.0 for a missed October release. Now Merchant v3.0 is rumored for
November 2000. Release of new software versions and reality do not often coincide.
And the big deal about this v4.0 thing is?
Ohhh my young friend... there are wonderful things afoot:
- Arrays
- Binary data support
- Header Control
- SSL Support
- Case
- Structures
- A COMPILER
Did you say A COMPILER will be available?
Along with v4.0 language features will be a compiler for Miva script code. The compiler will reduce server overhead,
permit syntax checking of script code, and will include a free run-time engine. Will Empresa be mothballed? I dunno.
Will Merchant be release in a compiled form? I would imagine so. Will Merchant still come with source code? I would
doubt it. It is not odd at all to consider that Miva would want protect their Merchant source code and stratify the
developer community. The incentives for writing and supporting unique add-on modules are lessened when you have to
give away your source code with each sale; not to mention full-flung Miva Script applications. Most professional
developers are not very fond of giving away 500 hours of hand coding.
What's this about Merchant v3.0?
If you follow the Merchant-user mailing lists you read the off-hand mention that a new Merchant version is
on the horizon. Yes, there are new features coming. No, we of the peon clan are not permitted to know what the
changes will be. Never mind that you might (i.e. probably are) be spending money right now on features found only
in add-on modules; modules that may be unuseable <or un-needed> soon. Never mind that the "wish list" for new Merchant versions
is still regarded as some sort of nuclear Miva secret that would bring death and destruction if it became public
knowledge.
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