Colorado
Web Hosting CGI General Instructions
Please
read the following instructions and the disclaimers
very carefully. We've attempted to be as explicit as possible in
order to anticipate any questions you may have during this process.
Important:
We allow custom CGI-BIN scripts to be placed in each user's "cgi-bin"
directory for the use of clients EXCLUSIVELY on Colorado Web Hosting's
WWW servers and networks. Any violation of this policy will necessitate
our having to notify you that we are forced to remove the script
from the CGI-BIN directory.
Instructions
for setting up custom CGI-BIN scripts:
- You
may use one of our prepared template CGI-BIN scripts, or submit
your own. We encourage you to use prepared scripts whenever possible.
We are always taking steps to make sure that the most commonly
requested scripts are available in prepared form. We encourage
our clients to suggest additional scripts to be placed within
the templates section.
- If
there is a problem on a script that you submit, and it causes
very significant problems on the system (overloads, perpetual
processes, etc...), the offending script will be removed immediately
and you will be notified about its removal. Your local CGI-BIN
access may be revoked if problems or mishaps with the system become
habitual. Please see our Disclaimers
section.
-
All
scripts for your Web site should be submitted to your "cgi-bin"
directory located in your home directory. The proper way to
reference any script from within your HTML forms is:
/cgi-bin/scriptname
- Be
aware that text files (Perl scripts) must be in a Unix or similar
text file (ASCII) format. DOS, Macintosh, and Unix text files
all have differences which may cause your scripts to have additional
characters and therefore not to work.NotePad for Windows and Windows95/98
and Alpha Text Editor for Macintosh are recommended for customizing
Perl scripts and saving the files out to ASCII text format.
-
Upload
your script via ASCII transfer mode to your cgi-bin subdirectory
on your Web account.
- Using
a program such as WS_FTP or FTP Voyager, you will need to make
your new script executable by running a chmod command. After connected
to your site through WS_FTP, select the file that you want to
make executable, then right-click and select "chmod (UNIX)".
Then adjust the permissions so that they look like:
File permission settings for a cgi script file (WS_FTP)
Note:
the newer versions of these programs will allow you to change
permissions on your scripts to make them executable. If you
do not make them executable, the program or form will return
an error upon submission.
-
If
you receive an error, check first to make sure that the script
is executable. You can do this by looking at the permissions
on the files in your FTP program. Some FTP client programs
may or may not feature the option to view file permissions.
We will always attempt to reference shareware/freeware software
that supports these features.
-
If
for some reason you just can't get your scripts to work, all
requests for assistance should be sent to cgi@coloradowebhosting.com.
Please note that Colorado Web Hosting cannot provided extensive
support for third-party scripts. If the problem is not a "quick
fix" and it is determined to not be a Colorado Web Hosting
problem, you may be charged for the support (we will notify
you in advance).
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