MiniVend pages are written in regular HTML with extensions to support catalog ordering. MiniVend extensions look like:
<A HREF="[href specials]">See our specials!</A>
Pages are delivered through the following steps:
The HTTPD server (Apache, Netscape, or NCSA are examples of HTTP servers) receives a request for a MiniVend page.
The server is already running as a daemon, and the request calls a small C program (source is vlink.c or tlink.c) that is named according to which catalog is being called. This program communicates with the MiniVend program via a UNIX- or INET-domain socket.
MiniVend reads the source page from the MiniVend pages directory, and interprets the MiniVend tags in the file. If the page doesn't exist, and corresponds to a part number in the database, it is built ``on the fly'' using a template page. In the process, it may read or modify any number of database tables. If the user's browser doesn't accept cookies, then any links generated on the page will contain the session ID, which is needed to ensure the user's session is retained.
The page, which is now entirely in regular HTML, is delivered to the HTTP server, which returns it to the browser.