CGI GUIDE


Before you may use perl and other CGI scripts on your site's pages, you
must tell us.  We will set up the necessary permissions for the cgi-bin.

Once we've set up your cgi-bin, we will notify you that you may begin
using your scripts. Do not attempt to run scripts in the meantime; they
will not work.  You must know your way around the Unix shell before
installing scripts. If you're new to Unix, we strongly suggest you
purchase a Unix book before proceeding.


Usage

1. Store your CGI scripts on the web server (www.echonyc.com) in your
/home/[userID]/cgi-bin  directory.
Note: [userID] is a generic placeholder for your personal userID

To reach this directory, type:

cd  /home/[userID]/cgi-bin  (if you're telnetted in to the server)
or use an FTP program (Fetch, WS_FTP) to upload to www.echonyc.com with
the directory/path name:  /home/[userID]/cgi-bin

You must adjust the execute-permissions for your script, otherwise it will
not run. Telnet to www.echonyc.com and at the Unix shell, type: chmod 755
[filename].cgi to set them properly.

2. To call your script in HTML:

http://www.echonyc.com/cgi-bin/[userID]/[filename].cgi

Note: [filename] is a generic placeholder for the name of the script you wish to run.
Append the usual .cgi to any script file names you upload to ECHO's server.


Trouble Shooting

If you are experiencing problems once you have uploaded your scripts...
Here are some common items to check:

- Email webmaster@echonyc.com to make sure that you have a cgi-bin directory 
and that you have been enabled to run scripts.
 
- Check to be sure that your script is in your  /home/[userID]/cgi-bin directory, 
on the host www.echonyc.com  Do NOT upload scripts to echonyc.com
 
- Telnet to www.echonyc.com and check that your script's permissions are set 
properly, to   -rwxr-xr-x
 
- Check that you are calling your script properly in your HTML.
 
- For perl scripts, the pathname to the perl directory on echo's web server is 
/usr/local/bin/perl   Many generic scripts have the pathname set to   /usr/bin/perl
You should edit this in your script if necessary.
 
- Scripts which process email, should call sendmail with the pathname /usr/lib/sendmail
 
- Echo's web server uses perl version 5.004_01   Check with your script's creator
to be sure that it is compatible with that version; if it was written for an earlier version of perl,
we can give you the pathname to one of the older perl directories on the server.
 
- Check with your script's creator to see if it requires any additional files, datasets or libraries
 in order to run, and obtain those files from them if necessary.
 
- Be sure that you have uploaded your script properly. You must check your FTP application's
settings to be certain that you are uploading the file as TEXT with UNIX line breaks.
 
- Typically when you try to run your script via the Web and receive an error message, 
the message is generic (i.e.: it doesn't tell you specifically why your script won't run.) 
Try telnetting to 
www.echonyc.com and running your script from the Unix command line to see what the "real" error message is.
 
- Use the Unix editor, vi, to check your script for extra or missing carriage returns, or errors in the spacing.


Please Note:

Echo makes every effort to provide top notch technical support.
Unfortunately, it is not within the realm of what is considered
normal technical support to teach users how to write/edit CGI scripts,
or how to use the Unix operating system. If you need assistance with
writing or editing your scripts, or with using Unix, we will be happy to
suggest some appropriate reading material or refer you to a consultant.

Echo does not provide scripts to its subscribers; for those users looking
for ready-made counters, email processors, etc., we encourage you to
search the Web for one of the many publicly available CGI scripts, such as:


Matt's Script Arichive