cgi interview questions
Top cgi frequently asked interview questions
Is it possible to send a status code other than 200 via a python cgi script (such as 301 redirect)
Source: (StackOverflow)
I have a bash script that is being used in a CGI. The CGI sets the $QUERY_STRING environment variable by reading everything after the ? in the URL. For example, http://example.com?a=123&b=456&c=ok sets QUERY_STRING=a=123&b=456&c=ok.
Somewhere I found the following ugliness:
b=$(echo "$QUERY_STRING" | sed -n 's/^.*b=\([^&]*\).*$/\1/p' | sed "s/%20/ /g")
which will set $b to whatever was found in $QUERY_STRING for b. However, my script has grown to have over ten input parameters. Is there an easier way to automatically convert the parameters in $QUERY_STRING into environment variables usable by bash?
Maybe I'll just use a for loop of some sort, but it'd be even better if the script was smart enough to automatically detect each parameter and maybe build an array that looks something like this:
${parm[a]}=123
${parm[b]}=456
${parm[c]}=ok
How could I write code to do that?
Source: (StackOverflow)
When I run python -m SimpleHTTPServer 8000 or python -m CGIHTTPServer 8000 in my shell I am hosting the content of my current directory to the internet.
I would like to make the following cgi_script.py work correctly using the above command in the command line when I browse to 192.xxx.x.xx:8000/cgi_script.py
#!/usr/bin/env python
print "Content-Type: text/html"
print
print """\
<html>
<body>
<h2>Hello World!</h2>
</body>
</html>
"""
But this script is displayed literally and not only the "Hello World!" part.
Btw I changed the file permissions to 755 for cgi_script.py as well as the folder I am hosting it from.
Source: (StackOverflow)
I want to get into C++ team at work. Their job is to write CGIs in C++ (mainly but not limited to). I know basic C++. Reading the list at C++ book guide question on SO, I've got three books from a friend (I actually had the first one).
- The C++ Programming Language - Bjarne Stroustrup - for reference
- C++ Templates The Complete Guide - David Vandevoorde / Nicolai M. Josuttis
- Modern C++ Design - Andrei Alexandrescu
I would like to know if there are any projects or ideas you can tell me that I can implement so that I get better at it.
The setup I need. I have a Macbook and a personal crappy Ubuntu dev server machine. I can bootcamp to install any OS if need be.
Can you please also give me some suggestions on how to begin writing CGI (or any tutorial)?
Thanks a lot.
AJ
Source: (StackOverflow)
This question has been asked in a similar way here but the answer was way over my head (I'm super new to python and web development) so I'm hoping there's a simpler way or it could be explained differently.
I'm trying to generate an image using matplotlib and serve it without first writing a file to the server. My code is probably kind of silly, but it goes like this:
import cgi
import matplotlib.pyplot as pyplot
import cStringIO #I think I will need this but not sure how to use
...a bunch of matplotlib stuff happens....
pyplot.savefig('test.png')
print "Content-type: text/html\n"
print """<html><body>
...a bunch of text and html here...
<img src="test.png"></img>
...more text and html...
</body></html>
"""
I think that instead of doing pyplot.savefig('test.png'), I am supposed to create a cstringIO object and then do something like this:
mybuffer=cStringIO.StringIO()
pyplot.savefig(mybuffer, format="png")
But I am pretty lost from there. All the examples I've seen (e.g. http://lost-theory.org/python/dynamicimg.html) involve doing something like
print "Content-type: image/png\n"
and I don't get how to integrate that with the HTML I'm already outputting.
Source: (StackOverflow)
I'm looking at doing some work (for fun) in a compiled language to run some simple tests and benchmarks against php.
Basically I'd like to see what other people use for C++ CGI programming. (Including backend database, like mysql++ or something else)
Source: (StackOverflow)
Note: This could also fit in superuser.
I am setting up PHP 5.3.10 on a shared host with apache2 mpm itk and open_basedir in a way, that each user may not see or change the files of another user. In the apache2 vhost settings, I add the appropriate entries to restrict the user:
AssignUserId userA userA
php_admin_value open_basedir /home/userA/www/
php_admin_value upload_tmp_dir /home/userA/www/tmp/
php_admin_value session.save_path /home/userA/www/tmp/
SetEnv TMPDIR /home/userA/www/tmp/
Now, the first line sets the linux user to use for apache2, the next three lines define the basedir, upload directory and session savepath to be in the user directory. I'll get back to the last line in a sec.
Now for the problem: sys_get_temp_dir() should give back the temporary directory for php, which is /tmp be default on a linux system. For security reasons, this directory should reside in the open_basedir of userA. According to the php-source of 5.3.10, the sys_get_temp_dir()-function uses the environment variable TMPDIR to get this directory:
// php-src/main/php_open_temporary_file.c:217-219
/* On Unix use the (usual) TMPDIR environment variable. */
{
char* s = getenv("TMPDIR");
This is what the fifth line in the configuration above should do. However, sys_get_temp_dir() simply returns the global system directory, ignoring the environmental variable (which is perfectly set in $_SERVER, also viewable via phpinfo()).
This results in some nasty bugs with various software relying on sys_get_temp_dir(), as that directory is outside of the open_basedir setting. I've tried to set the variable directly into $_ENV and $_SERVER without a change in behaviour. I've tried a putenv('TMPDIR=/home/userA/www/tmp') without change.
However, I am able to change the output by defining the variable into /etc/apache2/envvars - which is useless for me, as I want each VHOST to have its own temporary folder.
The only solution I have found so far is overwriting the internal sys_get_temp_dir() through an extension like runkit and enforcing its inclusion via auto_prepend_file. But that solution is so dirty, I simply can't believe, that there is no better solution around.
So, my question: Is there any way to change the result of sys_get_temp_dir() to be set in an apache2 vhost setting, without reimplementing the function with runkit?
Edit: The apache version is 2.2.22, and I currently use mod_php. As I will have to add all users manually, an fcgi or similar setup would also be possible.
Source: (StackOverflow)
I'm a hobbyist (and fairly new) programmer who has written several useful (to me) scripts in python to handle various system automation tasks that involve copying, renaming, and downloading files amongst other sundry activities.
I'd like to create a web page served from one of my systems that would merely present a few buttons which would allow me to initiate these scripts remotely.
The problem is that I don't know where to start investigating how to do this. Let's say I have a script called:
*file_arranger.py*
What do I need to do to have a webpage execute that script? This isn't meant for public consumption, so anything lightweight would be great. For bonus points, what do I need to look into to provide the web user with the output from such scripts?
edit: The first answer made me realize I forgot to include that this is a Win2k3 system.
Source: (StackOverflow)
I've been attempting to get PHP working with IIS 7.5 and have hit a bit of a roadblock. Whenever I try to load the page I get the following error:
"HTTP Error 500.0 - Internal Server Error
C:\Program Files\PHP\php.exe - The FastCGI process exited unexpectedly"
Module FastCgiModule
Notification ExecuteRequestHandler
Handler PHP_via_FastCGI
Error Code 0x00000000
Requested URL *http://localhost:80/index.php
Physical Path C:\inetpub\wwwroot\index.php
Logon Method Anonymous
Logon User Anonymous
Failed Request Tracing Log Directory C:\inetpub\logs\FailedReqLogFiles
I've modified the PHP.ini file as required for use with IIS, and have also switched it to verbose mode. There isn't any log fiel in C:\inetpub\logs\FailedReqLogs, and none related to this error in the other log files generated.
I've tried the other fixes I've found here and elsewhere but nothing's been successful so far.
In some detail these were:
re-checking PHP.ini
Setting up fastCGI to work with PHP in IIS (configuring it to load the php.exe)
Trying WinCache as the execution method.
Source: (StackOverflow)
I am trying to send a get or a post through a command-line argument. That is test the script in the command line before I test through a browser (the server has issues). I tried searching online, and I suppose I was probably using incorrect terminology because I got nothing. I know this is possible because I saw someone do it. I just don't remember how it was done.
Thanks! :)
Source: (StackOverflow)
An SQL database is overkill if your storage needs are small. When I was young and dumb, I used a text file and flock()ed it when I needed to access it. This doesn't scale, but I still feel that non-database solutions have been completely ignored in Web 2.0.
Does anyone not use an SQL database for storage? What are the alternatives?
Source: (StackOverflow)
I just noticed some strange PHP files in one of my web directories. They turned out to be spammer-placed exploit files.
They've been there since 2006, around the time that I was running a high-profile donation campaign using a CGI script of mine. And the files were placed in the script's writeable directory, so I suspect that my script might have been exploited somehow.
But I'm using Perl "taint checking", strict, etc, and I'm never passing query data to the shell (it never invokes the shell!) or using query data to generate a file path for OPEN... I only OPEN files that I specify directly in the script. I do pass query data INTO written files as file content, but as far as I'm aware, that's not dangerous.
I've stared at these scripts and cannot see anything, and I've studied all the standard Perl CGI holes. Of course, they could have gotten the password to my hosting account somehow, but the fact that these scripts were placed in my CGI script's data directory makes me suspect the script. (Also, them getting my password "somehow" is a much scarier explanation.) Also, around that time, my logs show lots of "Warning, IPN received from a non-PayPal address" messages, with those IPs coming from Russia. So it seems like someone was at least TRYING to hack these scripts.
Two scripts are involved, and I'm pasting them below. Anyone see anything that could be exploited to write unexpected files?
Here's the first script (for receiving PayPal IPN and tracking the donations, and also tracking which site is generating the most donations):
#!/usr/bin/perl -wT
# Created by Jason Rohrer, December 2005
# Copied basic structure and PayPal protocol code from DonationTracker v0.1
# Script settings
# Basic settings
# email address this script is tracking payments for
my $receiverEmail = "receiver\@yahoo.com";
# This script must have write permissions to BOTH of its DataDirectories.
# It must be able to create files in these directories.
# On most web servers, this means the directory must be world-writable.
# ( chmod a+w donationData )
# These paths are relative to the location of the script.
my $pubDataDirectory = "../goliath";
my $privDataDirectory = "../../cgi-data/donationNet";
# If this $privDataDirectory setting is changed, you must also change it below
# where the error LOG is opened
# end of Basic settings
# Advanced settings
# Ignore these unless you know what you are doing.
# where the log of incoming donations is stored
my $donationLogFile = "$privDataDirectory/donationLog.txt";
# location of public data generated by this script
my $overallSumFile = "$pubDataDirectory/overallSum.html";
my $overallCountFile = "$pubDataDirectory/donationCount.html";
my $topSiteListFile = "$pubDataDirectory/topSiteList.html";
# private data tracking which donation total coming from each site
my $siteTrackingFile = "$privDataDirectory/siteTracking.txt";
# Where non-fatal errors and other information is logged
my $logFile = "$privDataDirectory/log.txt";
# IP of notify.paypal.com
# used as cheap security to make sure IPN is only coming from PayPal
my $paypalNotifyIP = "216.113.188.202";
# setup a local error log
use CGI::Carp qw( carpout );
BEGIN {
# location of the error log
my $errorLogLocation = "../../cgi-data/donationNet/errors.log";
use CGI::Carp qw( carpout );
open( LOG, ">>$errorLogLocation" ) or
die( "Unable to open $errorLogLocation: $!\n" );
carpout( LOG );
}
# end of Advanced settings
# end of script settings
use strict;
use CGI; # Object-Oriented CGI library
# setup stuff, make sure our needed files are initialized
if( not doesFileExist( $overallSumFile ) ) {
writeFile( $overallSumFile, "0" );
}
if( not doesFileExist( $overallCountFile ) ) {
writeFile( $overallCountFile, "0" );
}
if( not doesFileExist( $topSiteListFile ) ) {
writeFile( $topSiteListFile, "" );
}
if( not doesFileExist( $siteTrackingFile ) ) {
writeFile( $siteTrackingFile, "" );
}
# allow group to write to our data files
umask( oct( "02" ) );
# create object to extract the CGI query elements
my $cgiQuery = CGI->new();
# always at least send an HTTP OK header
print $cgiQuery->header( -type=>'text/html', -expires=>'now',
-Cache_control=>'no-cache' );
my $remoteAddress = $cgiQuery->remote_host();
my $action = $cgiQuery->param( "action" ) || '';
# first, check if our count/sum is being queried by another script
if( $action eq "checkResults" ) {
my $sum = readTrimmedFileValue( $overallSumFile );
my $count = readTrimmedFileValue( $overallCountFile );
print "$count \$$sum";
}
elsif( $remoteAddress eq $paypalNotifyIP ) {
my $donorName;
# $customField contains URL of site that received donation
my $customField = $cgiQuery->param( "custom" ) || '';
# untaint and find whitespace-free string (assume it's a URL)
( my $siteURL ) = ( $customField =~ /(\S+)/ );
my $amount = $cgiQuery->param( "mc_gross" ) || '';
my $currency = $cgiQuery->param( "mc_currency" ) || '';
my $fee = $cgiQuery->param( "mc_fee" ) || '0';
my $date = $cgiQuery->param( "payment_date" ) || '';
my $transactionID = $cgiQuery->param( "txn_id" ) || '';
# these are for our private log only, for tech support, etc.
# this information should not be stored in a web-accessible
# directory
my $payerFirstName = $cgiQuery->param( "first_name" ) || '';
my $payerLastName = $cgiQuery->param( "last_name" ) || '';
my $payerEmail = $cgiQuery->param( "payer_email" ) || '';
# only track US Dollars
# (can't add apples to oranges to get a final sum)
if( $currency eq "USD" ) {
my $status = $cgiQuery->param( "payment_status" ) || '';
my $completed = $status eq "Completed";
my $pending = $status eq "Pending";
my $refunded = $status eq "Refunded";
if( $completed or $pending or $refunded ) {
# write all relevant payment info into our private log
addToFile( $donationLogFile,
"$transactionID $date\n" .
"From: $payerFirstName $payerLastName " .
"($payerEmail)\n" .
"Amount: \$$amount\n" .
"Fee: \$$fee\n" .
"Status: $status\n\n" );
my $netDonation;
if( $refunded ) {
# subtract from total sum
my $oldSum =
readTrimmedFileValue( $overallSumFile );
# both the refund amount and the
# fee on the refund are now reported as negative
# this changed as of February 13, 2004
$netDonation = $amount - $fee;
my $newSum = $oldSum + $netDonation;
# format to show 2 decimal places
my $newSumString = sprintf( "%.2f", $newSum );
writeFile( $overallSumFile, $newSumString );
my $oldCount = readTrimmedFileValue( $overallCountFile );
my $newCount = $oldCount - 1;
writeFile( $overallCountFile, $newCount );
}
# This check no longer needed as of February 13, 2004
# since now only one IPN is sent for a refund.
#
# ignore negative completed transactions, since
# they are reported for each refund (in addition to
# the payment with Status: Refunded)
if( $completed and $amount > 0 ) {
# fee has not been subtracted yet
# (fee is not reported for Pending transactions)
my $oldSum =
readTrimmedFileValue( $overallSumFile );
$netDonation = $amount - $fee;
my $newSum = $oldSum + $netDonation;
# format to show 2 decimal places
my $newSumString = sprintf( "%.2f", $newSum );
writeFile( $overallSumFile, $newSumString );
my $oldCount = readTrimmedFileValue(
$overallCountFile );
my $newCount = $oldCount + 1;
writeFile( $overallCountFile, $newCount );
}
if( $siteURL =~ /http:\/\/\S+/ ) {
# a valid URL
# track the total donations of this site
my $siteTrackingText = readFileValue( $siteTrackingFile );
my @siteDataList = split( /\n/, $siteTrackingText );
my $newSiteData = "";
my $exists = 0;
foreach my $siteData ( @siteDataList ) {
( my $url, my $siteSum ) = split( /\s+/, $siteData );
if( $url eq $siteURL ) {
$exists = 1;
$siteSum += $netDonation;
}
$newSiteData = $newSiteData . "$url $siteSum\n";
}
if( not $exists ) {
$newSiteData = $newSiteData . "$siteURL $netDonation";
}
trimWhitespace( $newSiteData );
writeFile( $siteTrackingFile, $newSiteData );
# now generate the top site list
# our comparison routine, descending order
sub highestTotal {
( my $url_a, my $total_a ) = split( /\s+/, $a );
( my $url_b, my $total_b ) = split( /\s+/, $b );
return $total_b <=> $total_a;
}
my @newSiteDataList = split( /\n/, $newSiteData );
my @sortedList = sort highestTotal @newSiteDataList;
my $listHTML = "<TABLE BORDER=0>\n";
foreach my $siteData ( @sortedList ) {
( my $url, my $siteSum ) = split( /\s+/, $siteData );
# format to show 2 decimal places
my $siteSumString = sprintf( "%.2f", $siteSum );
$listHTML = $listHTML .
"<TR><TD><A HREF=\"$url\">$url</A></TD>".
"<TD ALIGN=RIGHT>\$$siteSumString</TD></TR>\n";
}
$listHTML = $listHTML . "</TABLE>";
writeFile( $topSiteListFile, $listHTML );
}
}
else {
addToFile( $logFile, "Payment status unexpected\n" );
addToFile( $logFile, "status = $status\n" );
}
}
else {
addToFile( $logFile, "Currency not USD\n" );
addToFile( $logFile, "currency = $currency\n" );
}
}
else {
# else not from paypal, so it might be a user accessing the script
# URL directly for some reason
my $customField = $cgiQuery->param( "custom" ) || '';
my $date = $cgiQuery->param( "payment_date" ) || '';
my $transactionID = $cgiQuery->param( "txn_id" ) || '';
my $amount = $cgiQuery->param( "mc_gross" ) || '';
my $payerFirstName = $cgiQuery->param( "first_name" ) || '';
my $payerLastName = $cgiQuery->param( "last_name" ) || '';
my $payerEmail = $cgiQuery->param( "payer_email" ) || '';
my $fee = $cgiQuery->param( "mc_fee" ) || '0';
my $status = $cgiQuery->param( "payment_status" ) || '';
# log it
addToFile( $donationLogFile,
"WARNING: got IPN from unexpected IP address\n" .
"IP address: $remoteAddress\n" .
"$transactionID $date\n" .
"From: $payerFirstName $payerLastName " .
"($payerEmail)\n" .
"Amount: \$$amount\n" .
"Fee: \$$fee\n" .
"Status: $status\n\n" );
# print an error page
print "Request blocked.";
}
##
# Reads file as a string.
#
# @param0 the name of the file.
#
# @return the file contents as a string.
#
# Example:
# my $value = readFileValue( "myFile.txt" );
##
sub readFileValue {
my $fileName = $_[0];
open( FILE, "$fileName" )
or die( "Failed to open file $fileName: $!\n" );
flock( FILE, 1 )
or die( "Failed to lock file $fileName: $!\n" );
my @lineList = <FILE>;
my $value = join( "", @lineList );
close FILE;
return $value;
}
##
# Reads file as a string, trimming leading and trailing whitespace off.
#
# @param0 the name of the file.
#
# @return the trimmed file contents as a string.
#
# Example:
# my $value = readFileValue( "myFile.txt" );
##
sub readTrimmedFileValue {
my $returnString = readFileValue( $_[0] );
trimWhitespace( $returnString );
return $returnString;
}
##
# Writes a string to a file.
#
# @param0 the name of the file.
# @param1 the string to print.
#
# Example:
# writeFile( "myFile.txt", "the new contents of this file" );
##
sub writeFile {
my $fileName = $_[0];
my $stringToPrint = $_[1];
open( FILE, ">$fileName" )
or die( "Failed to open file $fileName: $!\n" );
flock( FILE, 2 )
or die( "Failed to lock file $fileName: $!\n" );
print FILE $stringToPrint;
close FILE;
}
##
# Checks if a file exists in the filesystem.
#
# @param0 the name of the file.
#
# @return 1 if it exists, and 0 otherwise.
#
# Example:
# $exists = doesFileExist( "myFile.txt" );
##
sub doesFileExist {
my $fileName = $_[0];
if( -e $fileName ) {
return 1;
}
else {
return 0;
}
}
##
# Trims any whitespace from the beginning and end of a string.
#
# @param0 the string to trim.
##
sub trimWhitespace {
# trim from front of string
$_[0] =~ s/^\s+//;
# trim from end of string
$_[0] =~ s/\s+$//;
}
##
# Appends a string to a file.
#
# @param0 the name of the file.
# @param1 the string to append.
#
# Example:
# addToFile( "myFile.txt", "the new contents of this file" );
##
sub addToFile {
my $fileName = $_[0];
my $stringToPrint = $_[1];
open( FILE, ">>$fileName" )
or die( "Failed to open file $fileName: $!\n" );
flock( FILE, 2 )
or die( "Failed to lock file $fileName: $!\n" );
print FILE $stringToPrint;
close FILE;
}
##
# Makes a directory file.
#
# @param0 the name of the directory.
# @param1 the octal permission mask.
#
# Example:
# makeDirectory( "myDir", oct( "0777" ) );
##
sub makeDirectory {
my $fileName = $_[0];
my $permissionMask = $_[1];
mkdir( $fileName, $permissionMask );
}
And, there's some redundancy here (sorry about that... completeness?), but here's the second script (for generating website HTML buttons that people can add to their own site):
#!/usr/bin/perl -wT
# Created by Jason Rohrer, December 2005
# Script settings
# Basic settings
my $templateFile = "buttonTemplate.html";
# end of Basic settings
# Advanced settings
# Ignore these unless you know what you are doing.
# setup a local error log
use CGI::Carp qw( carpout );
BEGIN {
# location of the error log
my $errorLogLocation = "../../cgi-data/donationNet/errors.log";
use CGI::Carp qw( carpout );
open( LOG, ">>$errorLogLocation" ) or
die( "Unable to open $errorLogLocation: $!\n" );
carpout( LOG );
}
# end of Advanced settings
# end of script settings
use strict;
use CGI; # Object-Oriented CGI library
# create object to extract the CGI query elements
my $cgiQuery = CGI->new();
# always at least send an HTTP OK header
print $cgiQuery->header( -type=>'text/html', -expires=>'now',
-Cache_control=>'no-cache' );
my $siteURL = $cgiQuery->param( "site_url" ) || '';
print "Paste this HTML into your website:<BR>\n";
print "<FORM><TEXTAREA COLS=40 ROWS=10>\n";
my $buttonTemplate = readFileValue( $templateFile );
$buttonTemplate =~ s/SITE_URL/$siteURL/g;
# escape all tags
$buttonTemplate =~ s/&/&/g;
$buttonTemplate =~ s/</</g;
$buttonTemplate =~ s/>/>/g;
print $buttonTemplate;
print "\n</TEXTAREA></FORM>";
##
# Reads file as a string.
#
# @param0 the name of the file.
#
# @return the file contents as a string.
#
# Example:
# my $value = readFileValue( "myFile.txt" );
##
sub readFileValue {
my $fileName = $_[0];
open( FILE, "$fileName" )
or die( "Failed to open file $fileName: $!\n" );
flock( FILE, 1 )
or die( "Failed to lock file $fileName: $!\n" );
my @lineList = <FILE>;
my $value = join( "", @lineList );
close FILE;
return $value;
}
##
# Reads file as a string, trimming leading and trailing whitespace off.
#
# @param0 the name of the file.
#
# @return the trimmed file contents as a string.
#
# Example:
# my $value = readFileValue( "myFile.txt" );
##
sub readTrimmedFileValue {
my $returnString = readFileValue( $_[0] );
trimWhitespace( $returnString );
return $returnString;
}
##
# Writes a string to a file.
#
# @param0 the name of the file.
# @param1 the string to print.
#
# Example:
# writeFile( "myFile.txt", "the new contents of this file" );
##
sub writeFile {
my $fileName = $_[0];
my $stringToPrint = $_[1];
open( FILE, ">$fileName" )
or die( "Failed to open file $fileName: $!\n" );
flock( FILE, 2 )
or die( "Failed to lock file $fileName: $!\n" );
print FILE $stringToPrint;
close FILE;
}
##
# Checks if a file exists in the filesystem.
#
# @param0 the name of the file.
#
# @return 1 if it exists, and 0 otherwise.
#
# Example:
# $exists = doesFileExist( "myFile.txt" );
##
sub doesFileExist {
my $fileName = $_[0];
if( -e $fileName ) {
return 1;
}
else {
return 0;
}
}
##
# Trims any whitespace from the beginning and end of a string.
#
# @param0 the string to trim.
##
sub trimWhitespace {
# trim from front of string
$_[0] =~ s/^\s+//;
# trim from end of string
$_[0] =~ s/\s+$//;
}
##
# Appends a string to a file.
#
# @param0 the name of the file.
# @param1 the string to append.
#
# Example:
# addToFile( "myFile.txt", "the new contents of this file" );
##
sub addToFile {
my $fileName = $_[0];
my $stringToPrint = $_[1];
open( FILE, ">>$fileName" )
or die( "Failed to open file $fileName: $!\n" );
flock( FILE, 2 )
or die( "Failed to lock file $fileName: $!\n" );
print FILE $stringToPrint;
close FILE;
}
##
# Makes a directory file.
#
# @param0 the name of the directory.
# @param1 the octal permission mask.
#
# Example:
# makeDirectory( "myDir", oct( "0777" ) );
##
sub makeDirectory {
my $fileName = $_[0];
my $permissionMask = $_[1];
mkdir( $fileName, $permissionMask );
}
Source: (StackOverflow)
I have been using PHP for years. Lately I've come across numerous forum posts stating that PHP is outdated, that modern programming languages are easier, more secure, etc. etc.
So, I decided to start learning Python. Since I'm used to using PHP, I just started building pages by uploading an .htaccess file with:
addtype text/html py
addhandler cgi-script .py
Then, my sample pages look like:
#!/usr/bin/python
print "content-type: text/html\n\n"
print "html tags, more stuff, etc."
This works fine. But, I came across a comment in a post that said that CGI isn't the best way to use Python. Of course, it didn't mention what is the best way.
Why is it that using CGI is not the best way to use Python? What is the alternative?
Is there some totally other way to set up a simple Python site? Is there some completely different paradigm I should be looking at outside of .htaccess and .py files?
Related
Source: (StackOverflow)
I'm having some trouble getting CGI.pm to output to HTML5 instead of XHTML 1.0 or HTML 4.01. When I try "HTML5" or "HTML 5" as the -dtd argument in start_html() I get a document in HTML 4. I've also tried importing :HTML5, but that doesn't seem to work either. Any advice?
Source: (StackOverflow)
If I have a static database consisting of folders and files, would access and manipulation be faster than SQL server type databases, considering this would be used in a CGI script?
When working with files and folders, what are the tricks to better performance?
Source: (StackOverflow)