cgi script

[ZURKE]

Hi I am working on a web site and I would like to place cgi-script "guestbook" into one of the pages. There are just a few things that elude me. I have read and searched till my head hurt and my eyes burned. These are variables that have to be changed in the "guestbook.pl" file.
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This is the address to the system location of the "guestbook.html" file.

guestbookreal="/home/yourname/public_html/guestbook.html";

Where exactly is "home"?
What and where is the "public_html"?


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date_command= "usr/bin/date";

What is this?
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I also need to upload this guestbook.pl file to the cgi.bin on my host server. My host server for this particular site is "Prodigy".
I am using WS_FTP95 to upload all my other files but I don't have a clue on getting the script into this "cgi.bin" on the server.

Any assistance in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Paul Komski]

Webhosts vary as to their exact setups but the default settings for referencing paths within pages you are using should be found from the webhost's support settings on their site somewhere.

You shouldn't need to worry about these referencing paths (such as home, public-html and so on) other than that these real paths are required for the applications to work.

When you upload, you are however presented with a virtual directory tree. Your normal files would generally be within a www or similar folder and to find the cgi-bin folder you would go up one level since the (typically) www and cgi-bin folders are generally under the public-html, which itself you would normally be denied access to.

A bit more info and another example at http://www.altaway.com/support/cgi.html

The usr/bin/date that you referred to is what it says: a date command.

[ZURKE]

Thanks Paul.

[ZURKE]

well, it is tuff to find a isp that will except CGI script.

I found bravespages.com to have there own addess book script which you can link to your site.
Thing is, I would only get 20 megs of bandwidth month.
I would have to pay extra for more bandwidth and to tell you the truth I am doing this for someone else and they do not want to pay so, I guess it is no guestbook. It has been an experience though. I love it!

[Paul Komski]

The webspace that ISP's provide is usually very limited as to what they will let you use on it even though it is usually free. Often they will only let you use their own cgi scripts, if at all.

You can search google etc for any number of free webhosts but I have found that netfirms.com provide a good free hosting package (at the expense only of one banner ad and no popups). They have a cgi-bin on a unix server and good general support.

BTW, if any peeps know of any other good free webhosts (particularly any that support asp pages) it would be nice to know about them.

[david eaton]

Zurke, Another possibility is to use a javascript to generate a guestbook, which is stored on the server. No CGI access required! I don't know how good they are, as I had a CGI script available, but I understand they work. Have a look at some of the javascript sites to see what is available. A Google search will find dozens.

David

[ZURKE]

Thanks paul, alot more bandwidth available with netfirms.

Dave, thanks I will look into it.

[ZURKE]

Dave I did not find anything that would actually write to the web page using JavaScript.

I have never used Java previously, how well does it perform when placed into a page with HTML? Or am I way of track here. Can I mix java with other formats on a page?

[sleddog]

Javascript is not Java.

Free webhosting is a huge pain in the ***. Besides the annoying popups and banners they do lots of other annoying things. Like delete your account, or simply disappear.

There are many, decent, low-cost hosting companies. Ask around and you'll get lots of recommendation. For example: http://www.compila.com/ in the UK provides all the ingredients for a decent website for the equivalent of ~ US$20 per year.

[Paul Komski]

Free webhosting is a huge pain in the ***.

Hmm ... Maybe. Started out with Netfirms about 2 yrs ago and they have hosted three sites for me during that period. It's free to start up with them, and if you like the service you can pay the $5 pm to remove the banner ad (which is little more intrusive than the RAM banner on this site).

Having said that, compila looks interesting, although its still gonna cost £48/year just to test out their asp/jsp support.

[ZURKE]

I did not realize there was a difference between java and javascript I was under the impression one was born from the other.

I have never used Javascript previously. Can I mix javascript with other scripts on a page?

[Paul Komski]

Java versus JavaScript
http://javaboutique.internet.com/articles/ITJ/qanda/q8.html

Java Versus JavaScript: What's the difference?
http://www.ocdavis.com/drinkingfountain/dfa032699_2.htm

[ZURKE]

Thanks that should do it:)