Instructions: setup Livecode server on Windows 8.1 with XAMP

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harper58
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2014 7:58 pm
Location: Louisville, KY

Instructions: setup Livecode server on Windows 8.1 with XAMP

Post by harper58 » Wed Aug 09, 2017 5:42 pm

Thanks to Simon at Activethought.net for his very helpful instructions.
I tried the instructions he made a while back and was never able to get it to work.
I just found his updated instructions and tried again.
I've just added a few bits to show exactly what worked for me.
I've looked at a few different options trying to decide which way to go.
HTML5 sounds great, but it requires a separate license, and currently lacks features I need.
Todd Fabacher/Digital Pomegranate posted a utility to get Livecode to work with Wordpress, but I never found instructions on how to use it.
If anybody has instructions on that, please let me know. I'm still interested in trying that.

Here are the software versions I used with Simon's instructions:
XAMPP for Windows 7.1.7
LiveCode 8.1.6 Windows Community Server
Windows 8.1 with latest updates as of 8/9/17
The system uses port 80 which kept this from working, so I changed to 8081.
I don't really understand why, but I had to change the line in httpd.conf from Listen 80 to Listen 8081 AND I had to click the Config button in the Control panel then the Service and Port Settings button and change the main port to 8081.
I also changed the SSL port to 8082 there, but I'm not sure if that was necessary.

followed directions here:
http://activethought.net/installing-livecode-windows/
Here's the text from that link:
Installing LiveCode on Windows

Currently I have been in the process of setting myself up on a new PC and that has meant reinstalling everything – including a locally hosted dev server.
Typically you need to install their own local development server to test and build websites locally – unless you want to work online – which is not always practical. If your internet connection fails – it can cost you huge amounts of precious time that most of us already don’t have and working local means everything is faster making you more productive.
Two of the most popular local servers for Windows are XAMPP and WAMP – both letting you install a combination of Apache, PHP, MySQL and also a few other bits and pieces. Installation is usually pretty simple with a few extra steps needed for integrating LiveCode server.
Here is how to install either XAMPP or WAMP – both work well and the choice is yours.
Here is how I did it.
Before starting – neither WAMP or XAMPP

1. XAMPP
Firstly you need to download the installer from https://www.apachefriends.org/download.html
Once it is downloaded – run through the installer and follow the instructions. I did not encounter any problems, so to save a bit of time, I won’t go through the entire installation process. As per the installation recommendations, I have installed to C:\xampp\
XAMPP gives you a handy little control panel so you can choose when to load it and what services you are running.
Once XAMPP is installed, it is time to download LiveCode Community server from http://downloads.livecode.com/livecode/
Once its downloaded, you need to extract it from the zip file and copy it somewhere. I suggest to C:\xampp\livecode
Now the fun part – getting it setup with Apache. To do this, you need to edit the C:\xampp\apache\conf\httpd.conf file. I like to use Sublime Text – it is a great text editor.
harper58 Note: I used Notepad++
The following is all based on my XAMPP installation path, C:\xampp, so you will have to adapt the following if you used a different location

In the <Directory “C:/xampp/htdocs”> (line 247) section, add:

AddHandler livecode-script .lc
Action livecode-script /livecode-cgi/livecode-community-server.exe

just before the closing “</Directory>”

and then after the “</Directory>” add:

<Directory "C:/xampp/livecode">
Options All
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>

ScriptAlias /livecode-cgi/livecode-community-server.exe "C:/xampp/livecode/livecode-community-server.exe"

You should now be able to successfully start or restart Apache via the XAMPP Control panel.

You can test to see if LiveCode is working by creating a text file containing a simple script e.g.

<?lc
put “This is a test script”
?>
harper58 note: this didn't work when it was the only text in the test.lc file. I had to put all of the following in it:
<html>
<head>
<title>Sample</title>
</head>
<body>
<?lc put "This is a test script" ?>
</body>
</html>

Save it as: C:\xampp\htdocs\test.lc and then fire up your browser and browse to: http://localhost/test.lc – the browser should display “This is a test script”
harper58 Note: since I changed my port to 8081, I had to launch the file using http://localhost:8081/test.lc

Now I've got to dig into Simon's instructions at:
http://activethought.net/livecode-server/introduction/

harper58 note: http://activethought.net/ doesn't seem to like Chrome, but appears to work fine with IE11.

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