Basic HTML version of Foils prepared 11 May 1997

Foil 19 Common Gateway Interface (CGI) - an introduction

From Setting the Stage for CGI Programming: HTTP, URL, CGI, MIME, HTTPD and many other acronyms ECS400 Senior Undergraduate Course -- Spring Semester 1997. by Nancy J. McCracken *
1 CGI is an interface for running programs on the server at the request of the client.
2 The client look-and-feel for accessing CGI programs is identical to conventional static HTML, but the server side implementation is different. When the user clicks on a CGI link, the server calls the corresponding process and returns its output, not the data/file/code associated with the process.
3 Typical Applications
  • Support for dynamic generation of HTML documents, such as on-the-fly conversions from other formats.
  • Interfacing with other (non-HTTP) remote services such as databases (WAIS, RDMS), video-on-demand, simulations, etc.
  • Support for the two-way interactivity between clients and servers ( to be achieved by building some intelligence and multiple choice/response capabilities into the CGI programs)
  • Interface to and integration with Forms/GUI area of HTML - submitted forms are handled by suitable CGI processes.
4 Look at a simple example of an HTML form with its CGI Perl program.
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