On 11/20/2010 10:24 AM, Dave Cross wrote: > Apologies for not replying sooner. This mailing list goes into a "read > when you're not too busy" folder :-/ > > On 18 November 2010 17:08, Todd Cary<todd at aristesoftware.com> wrote: >> On 11/12/2010 10:15 AM, Dave Cross wrote: >> >> It all depends very much on how the web server is configured. Do you >> know if the web server is configured to run CGI programs? Do you have >> access to the Apache configuration files? (Actually, is the server >> running Apache?) >> >> What value have you given the "action" attribute on the form element? >> You say that the CGI program is in the cgi-bin directory - was that >> directory there before, or did you create it yourself? Are there any >> other cgi-bin directories in the web area on the server? >> >> <<< Do you know if the web server is configured to run CGI programs?>>> >> The server is in my office running Centos 4, however I am not sure how to >> check to see if it is configured to run CGI. > By "web server", I meant the Apache software, not the operating system. > > To see if your web server is configured to run CGI, you need to look > in your Apache configuration file (/etc/httpd/httpd.conf) and look for > lines that reference "cgi". You might well find lines like this > scattered through the file: > > LoadModule cgi_module modules/mod_cgi.so > > ScriptAlias /cgi-bin/ "/var/www/cgi-bin/" > > AddHandler cgi-script .cgi > >> <<< Do you have access to the Apache configuration files? (Actually, is the >> server running Apache?)>>> >> Yes, it is running Apache and I have complete access. > That's good. The situation isn't impodsible then :-) > >> <<< What value have you given the "action" attribute on the form element? >> <form >> action="http://www.toddcary.com/srjc_CIS50_11B/lesson_6/cgi-bin/cgiecho/template.txt" >> method="post"> >> >> The template.txt file is at >> http://www.toddcary.com/srjc_CIS50_11B/lesson_6/template.txt >> >> The cgi is at >> http://www.toddcary.com/srjc_CIS50_11B/lesson_6/cgi-bin/cgiecho > This puzzles me. The action on a form attribute needs to point to an > executable file (or something that the web server can resolved to an > executable of some kind). Setting it to the path to a text file is > never going to work. > >> This is the error: >> The requested URL /srjc_CIS50_11B/lesson_6/cgi-bin/cgiecho/template.txt was >> not found on this server > Ok, that means that your web server isn't mapping URLs to the > filesystem in the way that you think. If you put a test file in > srjc_CIS50_11B/lesson_6, can you see it in a browser? > >> <<< You say that the CGI program is in the cgi-bin directory - was that >> directory there before, or did you create it yourself?>>> >> I created the directory as part of the project. > Ok, you can't do that. Just creating a directory called cgi-bin > doesn't automatically create a CGI directory. The web server needs to > be configured correctly to recognise that it's a CGI directory. > >> <<< Are there any other cgi-bin directories in the web area on the server? >> No other cgi-bin directories in the Web area. > Which perhaps indicates that the web server isn't expected to be used > for CGI programs. Who configured the server for you? Can you go to > them for help configuring the server to support CGI? > > The standard Centos 5 Apache configuration puts the web root at > /var/www/html and the cgi-bin at /var/www/cgi-bin. If your server > isn't configured like that then it's hard to be much help without > seeing far more detail about the configuration. > > Rather than posting a complete beginners course to CGI to the mailing > list, can I point you to a servers of tutorials that I wrote several > years ago. > > http://mag-sol.com/articles/cgi1.html > http://mag-sol.com/articles/cgi2.html > http://mag-sol.com/articles/cgi3.html > > Let me know if I can be any more help. > > Cheers, > > Dave... > Dave - The docs say it has to be a text file: http://shell4.tdl.com/techsupport/cgimail.html#template Todd -- Ariste Software Petaluma, CA 94952 http://www.aristesoftware.com