Building PERL Scripts on a Windows system*

Building PERL Scripts on a Windows system* *and running those scripts on an Apache server!

Tools Used • Windows XP service pack 3 computer • GoDaddy account for hosting • Domain name • Filezilla for FTP access • DOS to Unix conversion tool

The Dilemma • I wanted to further master my web programming skills after completing HTML, Javascripting and PHP courses at Chaffey • I signed up for Perl/CGI • Hosted my website www.nickburns.com with GoDaddy after discussing my needs with them • I then found for CGI, they use an Apache server! • This created the need to learn how to convert DOS (Windows) derived files into Unix/Linux files so the server would be able to run them correctly

The Solution • I found, after quite a bit of searching and testing, a simple and powerful utility which will translate “fromDOS” or “toDOS” based on the user’s needs • Now, the process…

Build a Set of Files • Build the html page first • Point the html to the cgi file • Upload the HTML page to the web server • Build the CGI file(s) • Convert the cgi file(s) into Unix type file(s) • Upload the converted cgi to the web server using Filezilla • Change the cgi file attributes to 755 • Disconnect from the server • Test by connecting to the html web page

HTML Page • <!book.html> • <HTML> • <HEAD><TITLE>Jubilee Book Club</TITLE></HEAD> • <BODY> • <H1 ALIGN=center>Jubilee Book Club Home Page</H1><HR> • <H2 ALIGN=center>Click the book to sign in<BR> • <A HREF="/cgi/book1.cgi"> Points to the CGI file • <IMG SRC=book.jpg></A></H2> • </BODY></HTML>

CGI Script (yes, it is a bit small; bear with me) #!/usr/bin/perl #book1.cgi - displays a sign-in form print "Content-type: text/html\n\n"; use CGI qw(:standard); use strict; #declare variable my $name; #retrieve Name cookie $name = cookie('Name'); print "<HTML>\n"; print "<HEAD><TITLE>Jubilee Book Club</TITLE></HEAD>\n"; print "<BODY>\n"; print "<H1>Jubilee Book Club Sign-In Form</H1><HR>\n"; print "<FORM \n"; print "ACTION='book2.cgi' \n"; print "METHOD=POST>\n"; print "<TABLE>\n"; print "<TR><TD>Name:</TD><TD>\n"; print "<INPUT TYPE=text NAME=Name SIZE=25 VALUE='$name'>\n"; print "</TD></TR>\n"; print "</TABLE>\n"; print "<BR><INPUT TYPE=submit VALUE=Submit>\n"; print "</FORM></BODY></HTML>\n";

CGI Script Described • Shebang line • UNIX – #!/usr/bin/perl (be very careful to get this right; I once spent hours debugging a script only to discover I had typo’d on this line) • File name and description of what the file will perform - #book1.cgi - displays a sign-in form • Declare the type of page - print "Content-type: text/html\n\n"; - HTML for example • Use the # for comments

CGI Script Described (continued) • Use declarations - use CGI qw(:standard); - to tell Perl what module to use • Prevent Perl from creating undeclared - use strict; • Perl statements end with a semi-colon • Declare variable - my $name; • Add a cookie -$name = cookie('Name');

CGI Script Described (continued) • Print/Return an HTML page • Code in much the same way as a standard HTML page with print statements: • print "<HTML>\n"; • print "<HEAD><TITLE>Jubilee Book Club</TITLE></HEAD>\n"; • print "<BODY>\n"; • print "<H1>Jubilee Book Club Sign-In Form</H1><HR>\n"; • print "<FORM \n"; • print "ACTION='book2.cgi' \n"; • print "METHOD=POST>\n";

CGI Script Described (continued) • print "<TABLE>\n"; • print "<TR><TD>Name:</TD><TD>\n"; • print "<INPUT TYPE=text NAME=Name SIZE=25 VALUE='$name'>\n"; • print "</TD></TR>\n"; • print "</TABLE>\n"; • print "<BR><INPUT TYPE=submit VALUE=Submit>\n"; • print "</FORM></BODY></HTML>\n"; • Remember to close each object! • This cgi also points to a 2nd cgi file containing the cookie, which will greet the customer

CGI Script Described (continued) • Open the 2nd CGI file in same manner as the first with a different file name: • #!/usr/bin/perl • #book2.cgi - displays a Web page containing the user's • #name and the book information • use CGI qw(:standard); • use strict; • #declare variables • my ($name, $C_name); • #assign input to variable • $name = param('Name');

CGI Script Described (continued) • Create the cookie: • $C_name = cookie(-name => "Name", (input from the form) -value => "$name", (variable to save) -path => "/cgi", (path where to save the cookie) -expires => "+6M"); (how long to save the cookie) • Send the cookie to the browser: • print header(-cookie => $C_name);

CGI Script Described (continued) • Create the response web page: • print "<HTML>\n"; • print "<HEAD><TITLE>Jubilee Book Club</TITLE></HEAD>\n"; • print "<BODY>\n"; • print "<H1 ALIGN=center>Hello, $name!<BR>\n"; • print "The book of the month is</H1><HR>\n"; • print "<H2 ALIGN=center><FONT COLOR=red>\n"; • print "<I>The Case of the Missing Dagger</I>\n"; • print "<BR>by H.T. Sims\n"; • print "</FONT></H2>\n"; • print "</BODY></HTML>\n"; • Script is now complete

Format the CGI File(s) • After following the simple directions in their readme file and installing “fromDOS” • Open a command prompt • Change directory to the location of the cgi file(s) • Type fromDos filename.cgi and press Enter • The file is now compatible with Unix • Type perl –c filename.cgi and press Enter • Perl starts the perl interpreter • -c checks the syntax without executing • If no errors, proceed to upload

Uploading the CGI files • Open Filezilla • Set up a connection to the server with appropriate user name and password • Left side window is location of local files • Right side window is location of server side files • Usually cgi-bin is the desired directory for cgi files, but GoDaddy uses CGI as their directory • Upload the converted files to the server’s CGI folder • Right click on the server files and select File Attributes • Change attributes to 755 and disconnect when complete

Testing • Open a Browser • Connect to the path of the HTML file uploaded • Complete the form as necessary • Determine if the results are as expected • Finished

Building PERL Scripts on a Windows system*