webMathematica Pages

webMathematica is based on Mathematica and two standard Java technologies: Java Servlets and JavaServer Pages (JSP). Servlets are special Java programs that run in a Java-enabled web server, which is typically called a "servlet container" (or sometimes a "servlet engine"). There are many different types of servlet containers that can run on many different operating systems and architectures. The servlet containers can also be integrated into other web servers, such as the Apache web server.

webMathematica allows a site to deliver HTML pages that are enhanced by the addition of Mathematica commands. When a request is made for one of these pages, the Mathematica commands are evaluated and the computed result is inserted into the page. This is done with a standard Java technology, JSP, making use of custom tags.

webMathematica technology uses the request/response standard followed by web servers. Input can come from HTML forms, applets, JavaScript and web-enabled applications. It is also possible to send data files to a webMathematica server for processing. Output can use many different formats, such as HTML, images, Wolfram Notebooks, MathML, SVG, XML, PostScript and PDF. The webMathematica User Guide includes examples that show how to produce these and other formats.

Specifications

Constituent Technology Included in webMathematica

• Mathematica 12
• The webMathematica web application, a special configuration of files arranged to run inside a servlet container (includes J/Link, webMathematica packages and various Java class files)
• The webMathematica kernel manager, providing support for launching and shutting down Mathematica kernels and for configuring and monitoring the site as it operates
• LiveGraphics3D, a Java applet for displaying and manipulating three-dimensional graphics

Documentation and Examples Included in webMathematica

• webMathematica User Guide
• Example webMathematica pages and templates
• Sample configuration files
• Sample applets
• Sample webpages
• Sample images
• Mathematica and Java source code for all constituent technology except Mathematica 12 and LiveGraphics3D

Compatibility

• Server Technologies
  Java Servlets and JSP
• Supported Java Versions
  Recommended: Java 5 or later
• Servlet Engines
  Any engine compatible with Servlet 2.4 or later, such as Apache Tomcat
• Web Servers with Tested Compatibility
  Apache HTTP server, Microsoft IIS
• Supported Server Systems
  Any system supporting Mathematica 12 and Java 5 or later

Miscellaneous

• Security Features
  Full compatibility with standard web-server security such as firewalls, trusted hosts and HTTP-specific features; Mathematica-specific security to prevent execution of system-specific commands
• Performance Overhead
  Start-up overhead removed by Mathematica session caching, linear performance as load increases, multiple Mathematica licenses supported (suitable for multiprocessor machines), minimal overhead over normal Mathematica computation time

Compatibility

Compatible Server Technology

• Java Servlet 2.4 or later
• JavaServer Pages (JSP) 2.0 or later

Supported Java Versions

• Versions 5 or later