iTP Secure WebServer System Administrator's Guide (Version 7.0)

Using Common Gateway Interface (CGI) Programs
iTP Secure WebServer System Administrator’s Guide—523346-012
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HTML Forms
extra_path_info
is information to be passed to the designated CGI program (cgi_script). The
most common use of extra path information is to specify the relative path name of
a data file.
The iTP Secure WebServer stores the contents of extra_path_info in the
PATH_INFO variable. Using the mapping information specified in the Filemap directive,
the iTP Secure WebServer also translates the PATH_INFO path name and assigns the
translated path name to the variable PATH_TRANSLATED. The PATH_INFO and
PATH_TRANSLATED environment variables are both available to the CGI program
(cgi_script).
For example, if the request URL is:
http://www.company.com/search.cgi/misc/images
and the server Filemap directive is:
Filemap / /usr/tandem/webserver/root
the path name /misc/images is assigned to the PATH_INFO variable. Using the
mapping in the Filemap directive, the server expands the contents of PATH_INFO to
/usr/tandem/webserver/root/misc/images
and assigns this expanded path name to the variable PATH_TRANSLATED.
HTML Forms
Input data can be passed to CGI programs through input parameters constructed from
data items entered into HTML forms. These parameters are read by CGI programs on
standard input.
Each data item entered into an HTML form is assigned to a value-name. The resulting
names and their values then are used to construct input parameters formatted as:
name=value&name=value...&name=value
where:
•
A space in a value is replaced with a plus sign (+).
•
An equals sign (=) assigns a value to a specific name.
•
An ampersand (&) separates individual parameters.
For example, if a user name (John J. Smith) and an e-mail address
([e-mail]) are entered into an HTML form as input, these data items would
be formatted into input parameters as follows:
NAME=John+J.+Smith&EMAIL=[e-mail]
The input parameters must be entered exactly as required.