| Faq
- What is cgi?
Cgi is becoming almost
a standard for almost all websites.Its a program which
automates and brings interactive to thousand of million
websites world wide.Cgi stands for 'Common Gateway Interface'.The
full name its self gives us a clue the interface is
platform independent - it is a standard for interfacing
external applications on web servers.Ther are several
language to write cgi programs such as perl,asp,c and
c++ and python .However perl is the most popular.Most
perl scripts use the following extensions 'cgi' and
'pl'.
These programs are only useful if you have a web site
which allows the execution of the scripts.Most commercial
web host such as beegee-internet offer this service
as standard.You
can drive around the internet for ready available cgi
programs.Most of them - painless to install.Php scripts
are only uploaded and work without any other variables.Here
is the run down of a basic perl installation applicable
to almost every script.
First and most important - you need to know your path
to perl( also known as perl compiler ).This is the driver
and communication medium between the script and the
web server.The path is found on the top of every script
and looks like this'#!/usr/bin/perl' 0r '#!/usr/local/bin/perl'
You will also need to know your server path to your
website.This works more like a web address,which will
correctly identify your web site and your script .Whilst
an url or web site address can be simple as: http://www.isp.co.zw
and a script with an address such as :http://www.isp.co.zw/cgi-bin/scriptname.cgi
- a server path will seek to trace the actual storage
place of your web site and script on the hard drive
of the server.The url above will then have a server
path such as: ' /home/sites/www.beegee.co.uk/web ' and
'/home/sites/www.beegee.co.uk/web/cgi-bin/scriptname.cgi
'.
Unfortunately we can not list all the examples of server
paths as they really differ with each server and web
site.
It might also be useful to know your sendmail.This will
be responsible for sending any email depending on your
setting and the script.The is the most alternative function
in place of a mail server.Most web server have their
sendmail as '/usr/lib/sendmail' and ' /usr/sbin/sendmail
'. Please check the right one for your server!
Editing your script.
You will need to use a text editor such as Notepad on
windows machines .Please do not use win word and word.They
tend to mess the script around.On a Apple Macintosh
- use the script editor or simple text .Remember cgi-scripts
are written as normal text files.
Once all the editing is done - you need to ensure your
script has the right extension such as 'cgi' otherwise
your web server might not recognize it as a script .Connect
to your web server and upload the script in ascll mode
.Normally cgi scripts reside in a directory named the
cgi-bin ( just a normal directory with the power to
execute cgi scripts ).Chmod your script to 755.This
is the same as giving the script permission to do certain
things. Other popular chmod codes are 777 and 644,usually
for directories.
Now - you will need to check your progress by simply
pointing your web browser (Internet Explorer,Netscape
Navigator etc)to the script.Type the url to the script
such as ' http://www.yourserver.com/cgi-bin/scriptname.cgi'
.All should be well depending on your script and settings.
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