iTP Secure WebServer System Administrator's Guide (iTPWebSvr 6.0+)

Using Common Gateway Interface (CGI) Programs

iTP Secure WebServer System Administrator’s Guide—523346-002

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Nonparsed Headers

Status Header

The Status: header instructs the server to return a specific status response to the

web client. This status information consists of a numeric HTTP status code followed by

text explaining the code. For example, a CGI program might cause the server to return

a bad-request response to the web client:

Status: 400 Bad Request

Content-type: text/html

<TITLE>Bad Request</TITLE>

</HEAD><BODY>

You sent this server a bad request.

</BODY></HTML>

For a complete list of the HTTP status codes, see Table C-2, HTTP Status Codes, on

page C-3.

Nonparsed Headers

CGI programs can use the nonparsed header feature to return responses directly to

the web client.

To use this feature, the CGI program must have a file name that begins with nph- (for

example, nph-payment.cgi). This marker tells the server not to process any of the

CGI program’s output.

A CGI program using the nonparsed feature must construct a complete HTTP

response, including all status and header information.

Logging Error Information

You use a CGI program’s standard error to log error information. Any output written to

standard error is recorded in either or both of two places:

•

The ErrorLog file

•

The stderr field in the ExtendedLog file

Standard errors from a server CGI program are not returned to the web client.

You control error logging by specifying an ErrorLog and/or ExtendedLog directive in

the server configuration file (httpd.config). For further details about enabling error

logging, see Managing Log Files on page 7-23.