Each directory inside the Root Container is a Web App, that is a set of files that, through the Web Application Server, are served to the web users. Web Apps are handled by the Web App Handlers. Each Web App must have a web.xml file defining the mappings between the HTTP requests and the Web App Handlers (a Web App may use more than a Web App Handler, eg. one for AJAX requests, one for standard requests, etc.).
The Web App directory is WWW public and can be thought as a web site document root. It contains a WEB-INF subdirectory, that is WWW private, with the Web App web.xml file.
A Web App is not required to be a Innomatic Domain, it may take advantage of the Web Application Server component only, but for each Innomatic Domain a Web App is always created with the same name of the Domain.
A Web App is the feature most similar to a common PHP framework.
As already stated, Domains are not web sites, nor the Domain Desktop is one. However, a public frontend to a Domain (just like a web site) could be made available through the Domain Web App, created inside the Innomatic Root for each Domain.
When creating a Domain, you are asked to define a Web App structure: Innomatic provides the “Default”, “Customized” and “PHP” predefined structures, but other Applications may provide new Web App structures. A Web App structure is a Web App directory skeleton with a predefined web.xml file already mapped to certain Web App Handlers. You can also use external frameworks as Web App handler and, thanks to the Web App handler mappings, you can also use multiple frameworks inside the same domain Web App.
The “Default” structure is only able to serve static HTML files; the “Customized” one lets the Web App developer to define itw own structure without it being overwritten by Innomatic; the “PHP” one is able to serve standard PHP files.
A more powerful usage of the concept is, for example, the one provided by Innomatic based content management systems. An ideal CMS, like Innopublish, would provide the administrative panels for the site management inside the Domain Desktop, while, through its own Web Application Handlers, would serve the WWW public pages inside the related Domain Web App.
The Innomatic Web App is a particular one, because it contains the whole platform code and always exists. The Root Container and the Web Application Server code are phisically located inside the Innomatic Web App. You can refer to the previous graph to get an idea of how Innomatic Web App code is organized.
Inside the Innomatic Web App you can manage Innomatic Domains and Innomatic Applications.