Introduction to CGI
CGI (Common Gateway Interface) is a standard for running external programs
from a Web server. CGI allows the returned HTML page to be dynamic - for example,
with a CGI script you could access information in a database and format the
results as part of an HTML page. Not surprisingly, CGI scripts are very popular
and used extensively throughout the World Wide Web.
There are a number of very good introduction to CGI documents available
on the Web. The information given below is a summary of the most important
points to remember when using CGI. Please refer to the following for a more
in-depth introduction:
Key points to bear in mind when using CGI scripts:
-
The pre installed scripts available through CPanel are the easiest
to use, but if a certain script does not do exactly what you want, feel
free to look for better scripts on the Web. You can usually find a script
to do almost anything, especially if you are prepared to pay.
-
Read all available documentation on a particular script before using
it. This will help avoid most problems.
-
CHMOD ("Change Mode") means change the permissions on a particular
file (usually the script itself). The CPanel File Manager allows you to
quickly do this, as do most FTP tools.
-
Important - after uploading
cgi-bin
scripts,
CHMOD to
755 (unless the script
documentation specifically states otherwise). For example, you need to
CHMOD the pre-installed CPanel
CGI EMail scripts
to 755 to use them properly.
-
Many scripts need to know the path to Perl (scripting language engine)
and to sendmail (HTTP mail engine). You can find this information on the
front page of CPanel.
-
Make sure you test your scripts repeatedly! Testing is vital to make
sure everything is working to your satisfaction.
