On-the-Fly HTML

On-the-fly HTML or HTML-on-the-fly refers to a process of building dynamic, on-demand, individually created HTML documents, and programs that achieve that goal, whenever the output from a CGI program or a request for information from a client requires delivery of such a document.

URLs:

NICS Technology FAQ

Answers to the question: What is On-The-Fly HTML generation?

World Wide Web Authoring

Create a home page

Two Web sites on which you can create your own homepage on-the-fly.

Print Resources:

• World Wide Web Programming with HTML & CGI. Ed Tittel, Mark Gaither, Sebastian Hassinger, & Mark Erwin. IDG Books. Foster City, CA. 1995. (ISBN 1-56884-703-3)

Detail:

Most Web pages are static files. They are stored on a server and transmitted when requested by a client. To change the text, whether by add or updating information, an author must edit the HTML file directly. On-the-fly HTML pages rely on the use of static boilerplate pages and use of the PRINT statement to insert dynamic content.

On-the-fly HTML is employed in various contexts:

• translating various text formats, such as ASCII e-mail files or UNIX man pages into HTML documents suitable for reading with a Web browser,
• translating the output of UNIX ftp programs into HTML,
• translating the outcome of database searches into HTML, as in generating hyperlink results with a search program.