HTTPServer Component

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The HTTPServer component offers server-side functionality for the HTTP/HTTPS protocols.

Syntax

TsbxHTTPServer

Remarks

Both plain (HTTP) and secure (HTTPS) connection types are supported.

Follow the below steps to set up and run the server in your code:

• Create an instance of the server component and set up the license, if assumed by the edition you are using: var server = new Httpserver(); server.RuntimeLicense = "5342..0000";
• Set up the listening port (make sure it is not in use): server.Port = 443;
• Tell the component whether TLS connections should be enforced: server.UseTLS = true; // set to false to disable TLS and server plain HTTP requests
• Set up the document root (a directory where all static files are kept): server.DocumentRoot = "c:\\inetpub\\mywebserver";
• (TLS-enabled servers only) Configure TLS parameters. The exact way of doing that may vary for different scenarios and security requirements. At the very least you need to set up the certificate chain that the server will use to authenticate itself to connecting clients. If you don't, the component will generate a dummy certificate itself, however, that certificate is unlikely to pass any security requirements. It will let you accept test connections though.

  Below is an example of tuning up the TLS parameters of the server: // *** Switching TLS on and enabling the implicit mode *** server.UseTLS = true; server.TLSSettings.TLSMode = smImplicitTLS; // this must be implicit for HTTPS // Loading the certificate chain var mgr = new Certificatemanager(); mgr.RuntimeLicense = "5342..0000"; // *** Setting up the host certificate *** // - it should be issued in the name that matches the hostname (such as domain.com) or its IP address (1.2.3.4), // - it must have an associated private key - so likely is provided in PFX or PEM format. mgr.ImportFromFile("CertTLSServer.pfx", "password"); server.ServerCertificates.Add(mgr.Certificate); // The CA certificate: this is to help connecting clients validate the chain. mgr.ImportFromFile("CertCA.cer", ""); server.ServerCertificates.Add(mgr.Certificate); // *** Adjusting finer-grained TLS settings *** // - session resumption (allows for faster handshakes for connections from the same origin) server.TLSSettings.UseSessionResumption = true; // - secure configuration server.TLSSettings.BaseConfiguration = stpcHighlySecure; // - disabling a cipher suite we dislike (just because we can): server.TLSSettings.Ciphersuites = "-DHE_RSA_AES128_SHA" // *** Configuring versions *** // The default version setting at the time of writing (May 2021) is TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3, // but that may change in future versions. The following tune-up additionally activates TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.0, // which weakens security, but may be necessary to accept connections from older clients: server.TLSSettings.Versions = csbTLS1 | csbTLS11 | csbTLS12 | csbTLS13;

• Now that your server has been fully set up, activate it: server.Start();
• Once the Start call completes, your server can accept connections from clients. Each accepted connection runs in a separate thread, not interfering with each other or your own threads. The server communicates its ongoing activities to your application by throwing events. The lower-level events deal with the underlying network connections:
  • Accept notifies you about a new incoming connection. This event lets you accept or reject it.
  • Connect notifies your code of an accepted connection. This event introduces a ConnectionID, a unique identifier that you can use to track the connection throughout its lifetime.
  • Disconnect notifies you that a connection has been closed.
  • TLSEstablished and TLSShutdown let you know that a TLS layer has been activated/deactivated.
  • Error reports a protocol or other error.
  • CertificateValidate communicates the client authentication event to your code. To access the certificate(s) provided by the authenticating client, pin the client and use the PinnedClientChain property to access its chain: server.PinClient(e.ConnectionID); e.Accept = CheckCert(server.PinnedClientChain);
  The higher-level events let you know what is going on at the HTTP layer, and let you serve your content on the fly:
  • GetRequest fires when a GET request is received from a connection.
  • PostRequest notifies your code about a POST request. Similar events for other HTTP request types (e.g. DELETE) are also available.
  • AuthAttempt fires when a connected client tries HTTP authentication (such as basic or digest) and let you accept or reject it.

  Note: every such event is thrown from the respective connection thread, so make sure you use some synchronization mechanism when dispatching the events to your UI thread - for example, by updating UI controls by sending a Window Message rather than accessing the controls directly.

• Use GetRequestStream, GetRequestString, and GetRequestHeader methods inside your GetRequest and similar event handlers to access request parameters and content supplied by the client. Use SetResponseHeader and SetResponseString method to supply the response content: void serverGetRequest(object sender, EventArgs e) { e.Handled = true; // telling the Httpserver object that we will supply our own content if (e.URI == "/index.html") { server.SetResponseStatus(e.ConnectionID, 200); server.SetResponseString(e.ConnectionID, "<html><head></head><body>Hello!</body></html>", "text/html"); } else if (e.URI == "/secretfile") { server.SetResponseStatus(e.ConnectionID, 200); server.SetResponseBytes(e.ConnectionID, m_secretData, "application/pdf"); } else if (e.URI.StartsWith("/static/")) { e.Handled = false; // letting the server process the content and flush the file from the home directory (c:\inetpub\mywebserver) } else { Flush404Page(e.ConnectionID); } }
• To stop the server, call Stop: server.Stop();

HTTPServer and SSLLabs

Qualys SSLLabs (https://www.ssllabs.com/) has been long known as a comprehensive TLS site quality checking tool. It is now a de-facto standard and a sign of good taste to aspire for the best SSLLabs test result for your web presence. SecureBlackbox developers share that effort and want to help their customers build secure TLS endpoints that can be independently endorsed by third-party evaluators like SSLLabs.

Having said that, when assessing SecureBlackbox TLS-capable servers that are configured to use their default setup, you will often end up with a lower SSLLabs score than you could have. There is a simple reason for that. Being a vendor of a library used by thousands of customers, we have to find a delicate balance between security, compatibility, and keeping class contracts rolling from one product build to another. This makes the default configuration of the components not the strongest possible. To put it simple, we could easily make the default component setup bulletproof - but having done that, we would have likely ended up with hundreds of customers stuck with legacy environments (and there are a lot of them around) losing their connectivity.

If you are looking at achieving the best score at SSLLabs, please read on. The below guidance aims to help you tune up the server component in the way that should give you an A score.

First, switch your server to the highly secure base configuration: server.TLSSettings.BaseConfiguration = stpcHighlySecure; This should immediately give you an A, or a T if your server certificate does not chain up to a trusted anchor.

Some warnings will still be included in the report. One of those is related to the session resumption. It is normally shown in orange:

Session resumption (caching): No (IDs assigned but not accepted)

This literally means that the server is not configured to re-use older sessions, which may put extra computational burden on clients and itself. Use the following setting to enable session caching: server.TLSSettings.UseSessionResumption = true;

Besides, the report may show that there are some weak ciphersuites. All of those should be shown in orange (there should not be any reds; if there are - please let us know), which means they are only relatively weak. While switching them off may affect the interoperability level of the server, you may still want to do that. By using the below approach you can disable individual ciphersuites selectively. For example, if the report shows that TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES128_CBC_SHA256 and TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES256_CBC_SHA256 are weak (because of their CBC mode), you can disable them in the following way: server.TLSSettings.Ciphersuites = '-DHE_RSA_AES128_SHA256;-DHE_RSA_AES256_SHA256'; Note that SBB uses slightly different, simpler naming convention by dropping unnecessart WITH and CBC. Let us know if you have difficulties matching the cipher suite names.

Property List

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The following is the full list of the properties of the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Method List

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The following is the full list of the methods of the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Event List

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The following is the full list of the events fired by the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Config Settings

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The following is a list of config settings for the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Active Property (HTTPServer Component)

Indicates whether the server is active and is listening to new connections.

Syntax

property Active: Boolean read get_Active;

Default Value

false

Remarks

This read-only property returns True if the server is listening to incoming connections.

This property is read-only and not available at design time.

AllowKeepAlive Property (HTTPServer Component)

Enables or disables keep-alive mode.

Syntax

property AllowKeepAlive: Boolean read get_AllowKeepAlive write set_AllowKeepAlive;

Default Value

true

Remarks

Use this property to enable or disable the keep-alive connection mode. If keep-alive is enabled, clients that choose to use it may stay connected for a while.

AuthBasic Property (HTTPServer Component)

Enables or disables basic authentication.

Syntax

property AuthBasic: Boolean read get_AuthBasic write set_AuthBasic;

Default Value

false

Remarks

Use this property to enable or disable basic user authentication in the HTTP server.

AuthDigest Property (HTTPServer Component)

Enables or disables digest authentication.

Syntax

property AuthDigest: Boolean read get_AuthDigest write set_AuthDigest;

Default Value

false

Remarks

Use this property to enable or disable digest-based user authentication in the HTTP server.

AuthDigestExpire Property (HTTPServer Component)

Specifies digest expiration time for digest authentication.

Syntax

property AuthDigestExpire: Integer read get_AuthDigestExpire write set_AuthDigestExpire;

Default Value

20

Remarks

Use this property to specify the digest expiration time for digest authentication, in seconds.

AuthRealm Property (HTTPServer Component)

Specifies authentication realm for digest and NTLM authentication.

Syntax

property AuthRealm: String read get_AuthRealm write set_AuthRealm;

Default Value

'SecureBlackbox'

Remarks

Specifies authentication realm for digest and NTLM authentication types.

BoundPort Property (HTTPServer Component)

Indicates the bound listening port.

Syntax

property BoundPort: Integer read get_BoundPort;

Default Value

0

Remarks

Check this property to find out the port that has been allocated to the server by the system. The bound port always equals Port if it is provided, or is allocated dynamically if configured to fall in the range between PortRangeFrom and PortRangeTo constraints.

This property is read-only and not available at design time.

ClientAuth Property (HTTPServer Component)

Enables or disables certificate-based client authentication.

Syntax

property ClientAuth: TsbxClientAuthTypes read get_ClientAuth write set_ClientAuth;

TsbxClientAuthTypes = (
  ccatNoAuth,
  ccatRequestCert,
  ccatRequireCert
);

Default Value

ccatNoAuth

Remarks

Set this property to true to tune up the client authentication type: ccatNoAuth = 0; ccatRequestCert = 1; ccatRequireCert = 2;

CompressionLevel Property (HTTPServer Component)

The default compression level to use.

Syntax

property CompressionLevel: Integer read get_CompressionLevel write set_CompressionLevel;

Default Value

6

Remarks

Assign this property with the compression level (1 to 9) to apply for gzipped responses. 1 stands for the lightest but fastest compression, and 9 for the best but the slowest.

DocumentRoot Property (HTTPServer Component)

The document root of the server.

Syntax

property DocumentRoot: String read get_DocumentRoot write set_DocumentRoot;

Default Value

''

Remarks

Use this property to specify a local folder which is going to be the server's document root (the mount point of the virtual home directory).

ErrorOrigin Property (HTTPServer Component)

Indicates the endpoint where the error originates from.

Syntax

property ErrorOrigin: TsbxErrorOrigins read get_ErrorOrigin write set_ErrorOrigin;

TsbxErrorOrigins = (
  eoLocal,
  eoRemote
);

Default Value

eoLocal

Remarks

Use this property to establish whether the reported error originates from a local or remote endpoint.

This property is not available at design time.

ErrorSeverity Property (HTTPServer Component)

The severity of the error that happened.

Syntax

property ErrorSeverity: TsbxErrorSeverities read get_ErrorSeverity write set_ErrorSeverity;

TsbxErrorSeverities = (
  esInfo,
  esWarning,
  esFatal
);

Default Value

esWarning

Remarks

Use this property to establish whether the error is fatal.

This property is not available at design time.

ExternalCrypto Property (HTTPServer Component)

Provides access to external signing and DC parameters.

Syntax

property ExternalCrypto: TsbxExternalCrypto read get_ExternalCrypto;

Remarks

Use this property to tune-up remote cryptography settings. SecureBlackbox supports two independent types of external cryptography: synchronous (based on OnExternalSign event) and asynchronous (based on DC protocol and DCAuth signing component).

This property is read-only.

Please refer to the ExternalCrypto type for a complete list of fields.

FIPSMode Property (HTTPServer Component)

Reserved.

Syntax

property FIPSMode: Boolean read get_FIPSMode write set_FIPSMode;

Default Value

false

Remarks

This property is reserved for future use.

HandshakeTimeout Property (HTTPServer Component)

Specifies the handshake timeout in milliseconds.

Syntax

property HandshakeTimeout: Integer read get_HandshakeTimeout write set_HandshakeTimeout;

Default Value

20000

Remarks

Use this property to set the TLS handshake timeout.

Host Property (HTTPServer Component)

The host to bind the listening port to.

Syntax

property Host: String read get_Host write set_Host;

Default Value

''

Remarks

Use this property to specify the IP address on which to listen to incoming connections.

PinnedClient Property (HTTPServer Component)

Populates the pinned client details.

Syntax

property PinnedClient: TsbxTLSClientEntry read get_PinnedClient;

Remarks

Use this property to access the details of the client connection previously pinned with PinClient method.

This property is read-only and not available at design time.

Please refer to the TLSClientEntry type for a complete list of fields.

PinnedClientChain Property (HTTPServer Component)

Contains the certificate chain of the pinned client.

Syntax

property PinnedClientChain: TsbxCertificateList read get_PinnedClientChain;

Remarks

Use this property to access the certificate chain of the client connection pinned previously with a PinClient call.

This property is read-only and not available at design time.

Please refer to the Certificate type for a complete list of fields.

Port Property (HTTPServer Component)

Specifies the port number to listen for connections on.

Syntax

property Port: Integer read get_Port write set_Port;

Default Value

80

Remarks

Use this property to specify the port number to listen to connections on. Standard port numbers are 80 for an HTTP server, and 443 for an HTTPS server.

Alternatively, you may specify the acceptable range of listening ports via PortRangeFrom and PortRangeTo properties. In this case the port will be allocated within the requested range by the operating system, and reported in BoundPort.

PortRangeFrom Property (HTTPServer Component)

Specifies the lower limit of the listening port range for incoming connections.

Syntax

property PortRangeFrom: Integer read get_PortRangeFrom write set_PortRangeFrom;

Default Value

0

Remarks

Use this property to specify the lower limit of the port range to listen to connections on. When a port range is used to specify the listening port (as opposed to a fixed value provided via Port), the port will be allocated within the requested range by the operating system, and reported in BoundPort.

Note that this property is ignored if the Port property is set to a non-zero value, in which case the server always aims to listen on that fixed port.

PortRangeTo Property (HTTPServer Component)

Specifies the upper limit of the listening port range for incoming connections.

Syntax

property PortRangeTo: Integer read get_PortRangeTo write set_PortRangeTo;

Default Value

0

Remarks

Use this property to specify the upper limit of the port range to listen to connections on. When a port range is used to specify the listening port (as opposed to a fixed value provided via Port), the port will be allocated within the requested range by the operating system, and reported in BoundPort.

Note that this property is ignored if the Port property is set to a non-zero value, in which case the server always aims to listen on that fixed port.

ServerCertificates Property (HTTPServer Component)

The server's TLS certificates.

Syntax

property ServerCertificates: TsbxCertificateList read get_ServerCertificates write set_ServerCertificates;

Remarks

Use this property to provide a list of TLS certificates for the server endpoint.

A TLS endpoint needs a certificate to be able to accept TLS connections. At least one of the certificates in the collection - the endpoint certificate - must have a private key associated with it.

The collection may include more than one endpoint certificate, and more than one chain. A typical usage scenario is to include two chains (ECDSA and RSA), to cater for clients with different cipher suite preferences.

This property is not available at design time.

Please refer to the Certificate type for a complete list of fields.

SessionTimeout Property (HTTPServer Component)

Specifies the default session timeout value in milliseconds.

Syntax

property SessionTimeout: Integer read get_SessionTimeout write set_SessionTimeout;

Default Value

360000

Remarks

Specifies the period of inactivity (in milliseconds) after which the connection will be terminated by the server.

SocketSettings Property (HTTPServer Component)

Manages network connection settings.

Syntax

property SocketSettings: TsbxSocketSettings read get_SocketSettings;

Remarks

Use this property to tune up network connection parameters.

This property is read-only.

Please refer to the SocketSettings type for a complete list of fields.

TLSSettings Property (HTTPServer Component)

Manages TLS layer settings.

Syntax

property TLSSettings: TsbxTLSSettings read get_TLSSettings;

Remarks

Use this property to tune up the TLS layer parameters.

This property is read-only.

Please refer to the TLSSettings type for a complete list of fields.

UseChunkedTransfer Property (HTTPServer Component)

Enables chunked transfer.

Syntax

property UseChunkedTransfer: Boolean read get_UseChunkedTransfer write set_UseChunkedTransfer;

Default Value

false

Remarks

Use this property to enable chunked content encoding.

UseCompression Property (HTTPServer Component)

Enables or disables server-side compression.

Syntax

property UseCompression: Boolean read get_UseCompression write set_UseCompression;

Default Value

false

Remarks

Use this property to enable or disable server-side content compression.

Users Property (HTTPServer Component)

Provides a list of registered users.

Syntax

property Users: TsbxUserAccountList read get_Users write set_Users;

Remarks

Assign a list of 'known' users to this property to automate authentication handling by the component.

This property is not available at design time.

Please refer to the UserAccount type for a complete list of fields.

WebsiteName Property (HTTPServer Component)

Specifies the web site name to use in the certificate.

Syntax

property WebsiteName: String read get_WebsiteName write set_WebsiteName;

Default Value

'SecureBlackbox'

Remarks

If using an internally-generated certificate, use this property to specify the web site name to be included as a common name. A typical common name consists of the host name, such as '192.168.10.10' or 'domain.com'.

Config Method (HTTPServer Component)

Sets or retrieves a configuration setting.

Syntax

function Config(ConfigurationString: String): String;

Remarks

Config is a generic method available in every component. It is used to set and retrieve configuration settings for the component.

These settings are similar in functionality to properties, but they are rarely used. In order to avoid "polluting" the property namespace of the component, access to these internal properties is provided through the Config method.

To set a configuration setting named PROPERTY, you must call Config("PROPERTY=VALUE"), where VALUE is the value of the setting expressed as a string. For boolean values, use the strings "True", "False", "0", "1", "Yes", or "No" (case does not matter).

To read (query) the value of a configuration setting, you must call Config("PROPERTY"). The value will be returned as a string.

DoAction Method (HTTPServer Component)

Performs an additional action.

Syntax

function DoAction(ActionID: String; ActionParams: String): String;

Remarks

DoAction is a generic method available in every component. It is used to perform an additional action introduced after the product major release. The list of actions is not fixed, and may be flexibly extended over time.

The unique identifier (case insencitive) of the action is provided in the ActionID parameter.

ActionParams contains the value of a single parameter, or a list of multiple parameters for the action in the form of PARAM1=VALUE1;PARAM2=VALUE2;....

DropClient Method (HTTPServer Component)

Terminates a client connection.

Syntax

procedure DropClient(ConnectionId: Int64; Forced: Boolean);

Remarks

Call this method to shut down a connected client. Forced indicates whether the connection should be closed in a graceful manner.

GetRequestBytes Method (HTTPServer Component)

Returns the contents of the client's HTTP request.

Syntax

function GetRequestBytes(ConnectionId: Int64; RequestFilter: String): TBytes;

Remarks

Use this method to get the body of the client's HTTP request. Note that the body of GET and HEAD requests is empty. The method returns the requested content.

The RequestFilter parameter allows you to select the element(s) that you would like to get. An empty request filter makes the whole body to be returned. The following request filters are currently supported:

GetRequestHeader Method (HTTPServer Component)

Returns a request header value.

Syntax

function GetRequestHeader(ConnectionId: Int64; HeaderName: String): String;

Remarks

Use this method to get the value of a request header. A good place to call this method is a request-marking event, such as GetRequest or PostRequest.

GetRequestStream Method (HTTPServer Component)

Returns the contents of the client's HTTP request.

Syntax

procedure GetRequestStream(ConnectionId: Int64; RequestFilter: String; OutputStream: TStream);

Remarks

Use this method to get the body of the client's HTTP request into a stream. Note that the body of GET and HEAD requests is empty.

The RequestFilter parameter allows you to select the element(s) of the requests that you would like to get. An empty request filter makes the whole body to be returned. The following request filters are currently supported:

GetRequestString Method (HTTPServer Component)

Returns the contents of the client's HTTP request.

Syntax

function GetRequestString(ConnectionId: Int64; RequestFilter: String): String;

Remarks

Use this method to get the body of the client's HTTP request to a string. Note that the body of GET and HEAD requests is empty.

The RequestFilter parameter allows you to select the element(s) of the requests that you would like to get. An empty request filter makes the whole body to be returned. The following request filters are currently supported:

GetRequestUsername Method (HTTPServer Component)

Returns the username for a connection.

Syntax

function GetRequestUsername(ConnectionId: Int64): String;

Remarks

Use this method to obtain a username for an active connection. The method will return an empty string if no authentication has been performed on the connection.

GetResponseHeader Method (HTTPServer Component)

Returns a response header value.

Syntax

function GetResponseHeader(ConnectionId: Int64; HeaderName: String): String;

Remarks

Use this method to get the value of a response header. A good place to call this method is HeadersPrepared event. Call the method with empty HeaderName to get the whole response header.

ListClients Method (HTTPServer Component)

Enumerates the connected clients.

Syntax

function ListClients(): String;

Remarks

This method enumerates the connected clients. It returns a list of strings, with each string being of 'ConnectionID|Address|Port' format, and representing a single connection.

PinClient Method (HTTPServer Component)

Takes a snapshot of the connection's properties.

Syntax

procedure PinClient(ConnectionId: Int64);

Remarks

Use this method to take a snapshot of a connected client. The captured properties are populated in PinnedClient and PinnedClientChain properties.

ProcessGenericRequest Method (HTTPServer Component)

Processes a generic HTTP request.

Syntax

function ProcessGenericRequest(ConnectionId: Int64; RequestBytes: TBytes): TBytes;

Remarks

This method processes a generic HTTP request and produces a response. Use it to generate HTTP responses for requests obtained externally, out of the default HTTP channel.

This method respects all current settings of the server object, and invokes the corresponding events to consult about the request and response details with the application. ConnectionId allows to identify the request in the events.

The method returns the complete HTTP response including HTTP headers.

ProcessGenericRequestStream Method (HTTPServer Component)

Processes a generic HTTP request from a stream.

Syntax

procedure ProcessGenericRequestStream(ConnectionId: Int64; RequestHeaders: String; RequestData: TStream; ResponseData: TStream);

Remarks

This method processes a generic HTTP request and produces a response. Use it to generate HTTP responses for requests obtained externally, out of the default HTTP channel.

The method expects the request headers in RequestHeaders, and the request data is read from RequestData stream. Once the request is processed, the response headers are reported through HeadersPrepared event before any data is written to ResponseData stream. ConnectionId allows to identify the request in the events.

This method respects all current settings of the server object, and invokes the corresponding events to consult about the request and response details with the application.

SetResponseBytes Method (HTTPServer Component)

Sets a byte array to be served as a response.

Syntax

procedure SetResponseBytes(ConnectionId: Int64; Bytes: TBytes; ContentType: String; ResponseFilter: String);

Remarks

Use this property to provide the response content in a byte array. The ResponseFilter parameter lets you select the element of the response that you would like to set with this call. The empty filter stands for the entire response body. The only response filter currently supported is parts:

SetResponseFile Method (HTTPServer Component)

Sets a file to be served as a response.

Syntax

procedure SetResponseFile(ConnectionId: Int64; FileName: String; ContentType: String; ResponseFilter: String);

Remarks

Use this property to provide the response content in a file. The ResponseFilter parameter lets you select the element of the response that you would like to set with this call. The empty filter stands for the entire response body. The only response filter currently supported is parts:

SetResponseHeader Method (HTTPServer Component)

Sets a response header.

Syntax

function SetResponseHeader(ConnectionId: Int64; HeaderName: String; Value: String): Boolean;

Remarks

Use this method to set a response header. A good place to call this method is a request-marking event, such as GetRequest or PostRequest.

SetResponseStatus Method (HTTPServer Component)

Sets an HTTP status to be sent with the response.

Syntax

procedure SetResponseStatus(ConnectionId: Int64; StatusCode: Integer);

Remarks

Use this method to set an HTTP status for the request. A good place to call this method is a request-marking event, such as GetRequest.

SetResponseStream Method (HTTPServer Component)

Sets a stream to be served as a response.

Syntax

procedure SetResponseStream(ConnectionId: Int64; DataStream: TStream; CloseStream: Boolean; ContentType: String; ResponseFilter: String);

Remarks

Use this property to provide the response content in a stream. Set CloseStream to indicate that the stream should be disposed of once sent. The ResponseFilter parameter lets you select the element of the response that you would like to set with this call. The empty filter stands for the entire response body. The only response filter currently supported is parts:

SetResponseString Method (HTTPServer Component)

Sets a string to be served as a response.

Syntax

procedure SetResponseString(ConnectionId: Int64; DataStr: String; ContentType: String; ResponseFilter: String);

Remarks

Use this property to provide the response content in a string. The ResponseFilter parameter lets you select the element of the response that you would like to set with this call. The empty filter stands for the entire response body. The only response filter currently supported is parts:

Start Method (HTTPServer Component)

Starts the server.

Syntax

procedure Start();

Remarks

Use this method to activate the server and start listening to incoming connections.

Stop Method (HTTPServer Component)

Stops the server.

Syntax

procedure Stop();

Remarks

Call this method to stop listening to incoming connections and deactivate the server.

Accept Event (HTTPServer Component)

Reports an incoming connection.

Syntax

type TAcceptEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  const RemoteAddress: String;
  RemotePort: Integer;
  var Accept: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnAccept: TAcceptEvent read FOnAccept write FOnAccept;

Remarks

This event is fired when a new connection from RemoteAddress:RemotePort is ready to be accepted. Use the Accept parameter to accept or decline it.

Subscribe to Connect event to be notified of every connection that has been set up.

AuthAttempt Event (HTTPServer Component)

Fires when a connected client makes an authentication attempt.

Syntax

type TAuthAttemptEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64;
  const HTTPMethod: String;
  const URI: String;
  const AuthMethod: String;
  const Username: String;
  const Password: String;
  var Allow: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnAuthAttempt: TAuthAttemptEvent read FOnAuthAttempt write FOnAuthAttempt;

Remarks

The component fires this event whenever a client attempts to authenticate itself. Use the Allow parameter to let the client through.

ConnectionID contains the unique session identifier for that client, HTTPMethod specifies the HTTP method (GET, POST, etc.) used to access the URI resource, AuthMethod specifies the authentication method, and Username and Password contain the professed credentials.

Connect Event (HTTPServer Component)

Reports an accepted connection.

Syntax

type TConnectEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64;
  const RemoteAddress: String;
  RemotePort: Integer
) of Object;

property OnConnect: TConnectEvent read FOnConnect write FOnConnect;

Remarks

The component fires this event to report that a new connection has been established. ConnectionId indicates the unique ID assigned to this connection. The same ID will be supplied to any other events related to this connection, such as GetRequest or AuthAttempt.

CustomRequest Event (HTTPServer Component)

Reports a request of a non-standard type (method).

Syntax

type TCustomRequestEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64;
  const URI: String;
  const HTTPMethod: String;
  var Handled: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnCustomRequest: TCustomRequestEvent read FOnCustomRequest write FOnCustomRequest;

Remarks

The component fires this event to notify the application about a non-standard request received from the client. The HTTPMethod contains the non-standard HTTP method.

ConnectionID indicates the connection that sent the request and URI suggests the requested resource.

Set Handled to true to indicate that your application's code will take care of the request. The application does it by providing the necessary details via SetResponseStatus, SetResponseHeader, and SetResponseFile methods. If the returned value of Handled is false, the server will try to take care of the request automatically by searching for the requested resource in DocumentRoot.

Data Event (HTTPServer Component)

Supplies a data chunk received within a POST or PUT upload.

Syntax

type TDataEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64;
  Buffer: TBytes
) of Object;

property OnData: TDataEvent read FOnData write FOnData;

Remarks

This event is fired to supply another piece of data received within a POST or PUT upload operation. This event may fire multiple times during a single request upload to pass the uploaded data to the application chunk-by-chunk.

DeleteRequest Event (HTTPServer Component)

Reports a DELETE request.

Syntax

type TDeleteRequestEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64;
  const URI: String;
  var Handled: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnDeleteRequest: TDeleteRequestEvent read FOnDeleteRequest write FOnDeleteRequest;

Remarks

The component fires this event to notify the application about a DELETE request received from the client.

ConnectionID indicates the connection that sent the request and URI suggests the requested resource.

Set Handled to true to indicate that your application's code will take care of the request. The application does it by providing the necessary details via SetResponseStatus, SetResponseHeader, and SetResponseFile methods. If the returned value of Handled is false, the server will try to take care of the request automatically by searching for the requested resource in DocumentRoot.

Disconnect Event (HTTPServer Component)

Fires to report a disconnected client.

Syntax

type TDisconnectEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64
) of Object;

property OnDisconnect: TDisconnectEvent read FOnDisconnect write FOnDisconnect;

Remarks

The component fires this event when a connected client disconnects.

Error Event (HTTPServer Component)

Information about errors during data delivery.

Syntax

type TErrorEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64;
  ErrorCode: Integer;
  const Description: String
) of Object;

property OnError: TErrorEvent read FOnError write FOnError;

Remarks

The event is fired in case of exceptional conditions during message processing.

ErrorCode contains an error code and Description contains a textual description of the error. For a list of valid error codes and their descriptions, please refer to the HTTPS section.

ExternalSign Event (HTTPServer Component)

Handles remote or external signing initiated by the server protocol.

Syntax

type TExternalSignEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64;
  const OperationId: String;
  const HashAlgorithm: String;
  const Pars: String;
  const Data: String;
  var SignedData: String
) of Object;

property OnExternalSign: TExternalSignEvent read FOnExternalSign write FOnExternalSign;

Remarks

Assign a handler to this event if you need to delegate a low-level signing operation to an external, remote, or custom signing engine. Depending on the settings, the handler will receive a hashed or unhashed value to be signed.

The event handler must pass the value of Data to the signer, obtain the signature, and pass it back to the component via SignedData parameter.

OperationId provides a comment about the operation and its origin. It depends on the exact component being used, and may be empty. HashAlgorithm specifies the hash algorithm being used for the operation, and Pars contain algorithm-dependent parameters.

The component uses base16 (hex) encoding for Data, SignedData, and Pars parameters. If your signing engine uses a different input and output encoding, you may need to decode and/or encode the data before and/or after the signing.

A sample MD5 hash encoded in base16: a0dee2a0382afbb09120ffa7ccd8a152 - lower case base16 A0DEE2A0382AFBB09120FFA7CCD8A152 - upper case base16

A sample event handler that uses a .NET RSACryptoServiceProvider class may look like the following: signer.OnExternalSign += (s, e) => { var cert = new X509Certificate2("cert.pfx", "", X509KeyStorageFlags.Exportable); var key = (RSACryptoServiceProvider)cert.PrivateKey; var dataToSign = e.Data.FromBase16String(); var signedData = key.SignHash(dataToSign, "2.16.840.1.101.3.4.2.1"); e.SignedData = signedData.ToBase16String(); };

FileError Event (HTTPServer Component)

Reports a file access error to the application.

Syntax

type TFileErrorEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64;
  const FileName: String;
  ErrorCode: Integer
) of Object;

property OnFileError: TFileErrorEvent read FOnFileError write FOnFileError;

Remarks

The component uses this event to report a file access errors. FileName and ErrorCode contain the file path and the error code respectively.

GetRequest Event (HTTPServer Component)

Reports a GET request.

Syntax

type TGetRequestEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64;
  const URI: String;
  var Handled: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnGetRequest: TGetRequestEvent read FOnGetRequest write FOnGetRequest;

Remarks

The component fires this event to notify the application about a GET request received from the client.

ConnectionID indicates the connection that sent the request and URI suggests the requested resource.

Set Handled to true to indicate that your application's code will take care of the request. The application does it by providing the necessary details via SetResponseStatus, SetResponseHeader, SetResponseFile or SetResponseString methods. If the returned value of Handled is false, the server will try to take care of the request automatically by searching for the requested resource in DocumentRoot.

HeadersPrepared Event (HTTPServer Component)

Fires when the response headers have been formed and are ready to be sent to the server.

Syntax

type THeadersPreparedEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64
) of Object;

property OnHeadersPrepared: THeadersPreparedEvent read FOnHeadersPrepared write FOnHeadersPrepared;

Remarks

The component fires this event when the response headers are ready to be sent to the server. ConnectionID indicates the connection that processed the request.

Use GetResponseHeader method with an empty header name to get the whole response header.

HeadRequest Event (HTTPServer Component)

Reports a HEAD request.

Syntax

type THeadRequestEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64;
  const URI: String;
  var Handled: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnHeadRequest: THeadRequestEvent read FOnHeadRequest write FOnHeadRequest;

Remarks

The component fires this event to notify the application about a HEAD request received from the client.

ConnectionID indicates the connection that sent the request and URI suggests the requested resource.

Set Handled to true to indicate that your application's code will take care of the request. The application does it by providing the necessary details via SetResponseStatus, SetResponseHeader, and SetResponseFile methods. If the returned value of Handled is false, the server will try to take care of the request automatically by searching for the requested resource in DocumentRoot.

Notification Event (HTTPServer Component)

This event notifies the application about an underlying control flow event.

Syntax

type TNotificationEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  const EventID: String;
  const EventParam: String
) of Object;

property OnNotification: TNotificationEvent read FOnNotification write FOnNotification;

Remarks

The component fires this event to let the application know about some event, occurrence, or milestone in the component. For example, it may fire to report completion of the document processing. The list of events being reported is not fixed, and may be flexibly extended over time.

The unique identifier of the event is provided in EventID parameter. EventParam contains any parameters accompanying the occurrence. Depending on the type of the component, the exact action it is performing, or the document being processed, one or both may be omitted.

OptionsRequest Event (HTTPServer Component)

Reports an OPTIONS request.

Syntax

type TOptionsRequestEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64;
  const URI: String;
  var Handled: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnOptionsRequest: TOptionsRequestEvent read FOnOptionsRequest write FOnOptionsRequest;

Remarks

The component fires this event to notify the application about an OPTIONS request received from the client.

ConnectionID indicates the connection that sent the request and URI suggests the requested resource.

Set Handled to true to indicate that your application's code will take care of the request. The application does it by providing the necessary details via SetResponseStatus, SetResponseHeader, and SetResponseFile methods. If the returned value of Handled is false, the server will try to take care of the request automatically by searching for the requested resource in DocumentRoot.

PatchRequest Event (HTTPServer Component)

Reports a PATCH request.

Syntax

type TPatchRequestEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64;
  const URI: String;
  var Handled: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnPatchRequest: TPatchRequestEvent read FOnPatchRequest write FOnPatchRequest;

Remarks

The component fires this event to notify the application about a PATCH request received from the client.

ConnectionID indicates the connection that sent the request and URI suggests the requested resource.

Set Handled to true to indicate that your application's code will take care of the request. The application does it by providing the necessary details via SetResponseStatus, SetResponseHeader, and SetResponseFile methods. If the returned value of Handled is false, the server will try to take care of the request automatically by searching for the requested resource in DocumentRoot.

PostRequest Event (HTTPServer Component)

Reports a POST request.

Syntax

type TPostRequestEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64;
  const URI: String;
  var Handled: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnPostRequest: TPostRequestEvent read FOnPostRequest write FOnPostRequest;

Remarks

The component fires this event to notify the application about a POST request received from the client.

ConnectionID indicates the connection that sent the request and URI suggests the requested resource.

Set Handled to true to indicate that your application's code will take care of the request. The application does it by providing the necessary details via SetResponseStatus, SetResponseHeader, and SetResponseFile methods. If the returned value of Handled is false, the server will try to take care of the request automatically by searching for the requested resource in DocumentRoot.

PutRequest Event (HTTPServer Component)

Reports a PUT request.

Syntax

type TPutRequestEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64;
  const URI: String;
  var Handled: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnPutRequest: TPutRequestEvent read FOnPutRequest write FOnPutRequest;

Remarks

The component fires this event to notify the application about a PUT request received from the client.

ConnectionID indicates the connection that sent the request and URI suggests the requested resource.

Set Handled to true to indicate that your application's code will take care of the request. The application does it by providing the necessary details via SetResponseStatus, SetResponseHeader, and SetResponseFile methods. If the returned value of Handled is false, the server will try to take care of the request automatically by searching for the requested resource in DocumentRoot.

ResourceAccess Event (HTTPServer Component)

Reports an attempt to access a resource.

Syntax

type TResourceAccessEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64;
  const HTTPMethod: String;
  const URI: String;
  var Allow: Boolean;
  var RedirectURI: String
) of Object;

property OnResourceAccess: TResourceAccessEvent read FOnResourceAccess write FOnResourceAccess;

Remarks

The component fires this event to notify the application about a request received from the client. The HTTPMethod parameter indicates the HTTP method used (GET, POST, etc.)

ConnectionID indicates the connection that sent the request and URI suggests the requested resource.

Set Allow to false to prevent the client from accessing the resource. The component will automatically send a "forbidden" status code (403).

Set a non-empty value to RedirectURI to notify the client that the resource has moved to another place. The component will automatically send a "found" status code (302). If Allow is set to false, the value of RedirectURI is ignored.

TLSCertValidate Event (HTTPServer Component)

Fires when a client certificate needs to be validated.

Syntax

type TTLSCertValidateEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64;
  var Accept: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnTLSCertValidate: TTLSCertValidateEvent read FOnTLSCertValidate write FOnTLSCertValidate;

Remarks

The component fires this event to notify the application of an authenticating client. Use the event handler to validate the certificate and pass your decision back to the server component via the Accept parameter.

TLSEstablished Event (HTTPServer Component)

Reports the setup of a TLS session.

Syntax

type TTLSEstablishedEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64
) of Object;

property OnTLSEstablished: TTLSEstablishedEvent read FOnTLSEstablished write FOnTLSEstablished;

Remarks

Subscribe to this event to be notified about the setup of a TLS connection by a connected client.

TLSHandshake Event (HTTPServer Component)

Fires when a newly established client connection initiates a TLS handshake.

Syntax

type TTLSHandshakeEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64;
  const ServerName: String;
  var Abort: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnTLSHandshake: TTLSHandshakeEvent read FOnTLSHandshake write FOnTLSHandshake;

Remarks

Use this event to get notified about the initiation of the TLS handshake by the remote client. The ServerName parameter specifies the requested host from the client hello message.

TLSPSK Event (HTTPServer Component)

Requests a pre-shared key for TLS-PSK.

Syntax

type TTLSPSKEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64;
  const Identity: String;
  var PSK: String;
  var Ciphersuite: String
) of Object;

property OnTLSPSK: TTLSPSKEvent read FOnTLSPSK write FOnTLSPSK;

Remarks

The component fires this event to report that a client has requested a TLS-PSK negotiation. ConnectionId indicates the unique connection ID that requested the PSK handshake.

Use Identity to look up for the corresponding pre-shared key in the server's database, then assign the key to the PSK parameter. If TLS 1.3 PSK is used, you will also need to assign the Ciphersuite parameter with the cipher suite associated with that identity and their key.

TLSShutdown Event (HTTPServer Component)

Reports closure of a TLS session.

Syntax

type TTLSShutdownEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64
) of Object;

property OnTLSShutdown: TTLSShutdownEvent read FOnTLSShutdown write FOnTLSShutdown;

Remarks

The component fires this event when a connected client closes their TLS session gracefully. This event is typically followed by a Disconnect, which marks the closure of the underlying TCP session.

TraceRequest Event (HTTPServer Component)

Reports a TRACE request.

Syntax

type TTraceRequestEvent = procedure (
  Sender: TObject;
  ConnectionID: Int64;
  const URI: String;
  var Handled: Boolean
) of Object;

property OnTraceRequest: TTraceRequestEvent read FOnTraceRequest write FOnTraceRequest;

Remarks

The component fires this event to notify the application about a TRACE request received from the client.

ConnectionID indicates the connection that sent the request and URI suggests the requested resource.

Set Handled to true to indicate that your application's code will take care of the request. The application does it by providing the necessary details via SetResponseStatus, SetResponseHeader, and SetResponseFile methods. If the returned value of Handled is false, the server will try to take care of the request automatically by searching for the requested resource in DocumentRoot.

Certificate Type

Provides details of an individual X.509 certificate.

Remarks

This type provides access to X.509 certificate details.

Fields

Constructors

>

constructor Create();

Creates a new object with default field values.

ExternalCrypto Type

Specifies the parameters of external cryptographic calls.

Remarks

External cryptocalls are used in a Distributed Cryptography (DC) subsystem, which allows the delegation of security operations to the remote agent. For instance, it can be used to compute the signature value on the server, while retaining the client's private key locally.

Fields

Constructors

>

constructor Create();

Creates a new ExternalCrypto object with default field values.

SocketSettings Type

A container for the socket settings.

Remarks

This type is a container for socket-layer parameters.

Fields

Constructors

>

constructor Create();

Creates a new SocketSettings object.

TLSClientEntry Type

A container for a connected TLS client's details.

Remarks

Use this property to access the details of a particular connected client.

Fields

Constructors

>

constructor Create();

Creates a new TLSClientEntry object.

TLSSettings Type

A container for TLS connection settings.

Remarks

TLS (Transport Layer Security) protocol provides security for information exchanged over insecure connections such as TCP/IP.

Fields

Constructors

>

constructor Create();

Creates a new TLSSettings object.

UserAccount Type

A container for user account information.

Remarks

UserAccount objects are used to store user account information, such as logins and passwords.

Fields

Constructors

>

constructor Create();

Creates a new UserAccount object.

Config Settings (HTTPServer Component)

The component accepts one or more of the following configuration settings. Configuration settings are similar in functionality to properties, but they are rarely used. In order to avoid "polluting" the property namespace of the component, access to these internal properties is provided through the Config method.

HTTPServer Config Settings

Base Config Settings

Trappable Errors (HTTPServer Component)

HTTPServer Errors

	1048577   Invalid parameter value (SB_ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER)
	1048578   Component is configured incorrectly (SB_ERROR_INVALID_SETUP)
	1048579   Operation cannot be executed in the current state (SB_ERROR_INVALID_STATE)
	1048580   Attempt to set an invalid value to a property (SB_ERROR_INVALID_VALUE)
	1048581   Certificate does not have its private key loaded (SB_ERROR_NO_PRIVATE_KEY)
	1048581   Cancelled by the user (SB_ERROR_CANCELLED_BY_USER) 
	19922945   Unsupported keep-alive policy (SB_ERROR_HTTP_UNSUPPORTED_KEEPALIVEPOLICY)