There is no such thing as a standalone 1C application. You cannot get an EXE file containing a runnable 1C app and just launch it on your computer.
First, you need to install the 1C:Enterprise platform. Then you need to unroll your app and tell the Platform to run it. The Platform consists of many components doing different things and required for different tasks. This is what we are here to talk about today.
The 1C:Enterprise platform distribution package looks something like this (at least for Windows). As soon as you run the setup and click next, this is what you will see - the list of all components included in the distribution package.
So, let’s take a closer look at what is here and what we need to install. There are many different users working with the Platform. Different users perform different tasks and require different Platform components to be installed. So, here is a question for us to start with: whose computers are we installing the Platform to?
First of all, there is a developer’s computer. Of course, I’m not talking about the Platform developers living somewhere outside of our realm. I’m talking about application developers who use Designer to develop the application users are to work with or customize it. Next computer belongs to the system administrator whose responsibilities are: installing and setting up the Platform and the application as well as administering, monitoring and maintaining the system as a whole.
Next up is our LAN user whose only job is to work with the application. The important detail here is that this computer is local to our network. It’s located nearby and connected to others with Ethernet cable or Wi-Fi.
Next one: WAN user. This one also works with the application but from the outside of our local network using Internet protocols. The last two computers are quite a bit different from what we’ve seen so far. They aren’t workstations. They are servers. It means that there is usually no one working with these computers directly - using a keyboard and a monitor.
Instead, there are many different users working with them indirectly - from their workstations located elsewhere. The first one is called 1C Server. Its job is to be a middleman between users and a database server. This is what’s called an application server in terms of the three-tier architecture. Technically, any 1C application can work without the 1C Server, but you definitely want it running if there are more than 10 users working with the application concurrently.
One more very important thing to note about this guy is that you cannot use the 1C Server without the database server. 1C:Enterprise supports four different DBMSs but none of them are included in the distribution package, so you will need to install them separately. The second one is called a web server. So, these were our computers.
Now - to the distribution package components. When I click here, I can opt for installing this component alone, or along with all subcomponents if there are any. Or you can skip any component like this. So, what do we have here? The first one contains the Designer which will be the obvious pick for the Developer and for the Admin for it includes some major admin tools in it.
It also features the Thin client, which is basically a client-side 1C application player, so it can be run by both LAN and WAN users. Although it will be an overkill considering that the users don’t need the Designer, so I’d better skip this one. As for the servers, the only thing this component can do for them is to take up some disk space, so we’re skipping it here too.
Next up: The standalone Thin client. No Designer, no nothing. Perfect choice for both LAN and WAN users. Pretty much useless anywhere else. Next one: The same Thin client plus something else called the file mode. This is what we call our proprietary file-based database system, that does not require a SQL server or the 1C server to operate.
So, if you deal with a very small system (less than 10 concurrent users) and this LAN computer is where the database is to be stored - this is your choice. Nobody else needs this component.
Next: 1C:Enterprise server. This is our application server - the one you want to use for anything bigger than 10 concurrent users system. This one goes to the 1C server and nowhere else. Please, remember that 1C server cannot work without the database server, like, for example, MS SQL Server or PostgreSQL. Which is not included in the distribution package, so you will need to download and install it separately.
Next up: the Web server extension. This is, basically, a part of the platform living inside of a Web server and allowing users to work with the Platform using a web browser. It, obviously, goes to the Web server and that’s it.
Next up is a whole bunch of admin tools living down here and here. They go to the Admin workstation and nowhere else. And the last thing I want to show you are these Additional Interfaces. These are all the languages the Platform can speak, so I’m just selecting those my users speak when I’m installing the Platform on either LAN or WAN users’ computers and that’s it.
So, these were the main Platform components and where to install them.