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CGI is an interface for running programs on the server at the request of the client.
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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.
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Typical Applications
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Support for dynamic generation of HTML documents, such as on-the-fly conversions from other formats.
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Interfacing with other (non-HTTP) remote services such as databases (WAIS, RDMS), video-on-demand, simulations, etc.
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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)
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Interface to and integration with Forms/GUI area of HTML - submitted forms are handled by suitable CGI processes.
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Look at a simple example of an HTML form with its CGI Perl program.
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