CIS WebInfo: CGI

Services > Web Services > Interactive Forms > Forms.cgi

Forms.cgi

action="http://www.whoi.edu/cgi-bin/whoi/Forms.cgi"

DESCRIPTION

This CGI script is used to email web form results to a designated email address as well as cc: the submitter.

METHODS

sub check_url: checks to see if the form calling this CGI script is on a list of verified servers and if not returns an HTML Error page
sub get_date: puts the date and time of the submitted request into a variable named '$date'
sub parse_form: defines an array %Config which holds names and values of specific Form Fields used to control the design, format, required fields, etc. This method takes the datastream and parses it.
sub check_required: checks the fields you have designated as required
sub return_html: returns a confirmation page to the submitter
sub send_mail: sends email via the sendmail program to the designated recipient and the submitter
sub check_email: verifies that the email address of the submitter is valid
sub body_attributes: checks the %Config array for specific controls that will format the design of the returned HTML page
sub error: returns an HTML page with specific details about the errors committed in sending the form results. They can be: bad_referer: if form was not submitted from a validated web server; request_method: if request method is not either GET or POST; no_recipient: if no recipient has been designated (this must be designated by the author of the form as a hidden field.); missing_fields: if form has required fileds that are blank

The key to this CGI Script is that it is controlled by the array %Config. As you designate form fields with set values or user defines values, so %Config controls how the script works for you. %Config is an array with size 22. The fields are:

recipient: email address the form results are mailed to
subject: the subject line of the email being sent to recipient
email: email address of the submitter. it is used to cc: the submitter
realname: name of the submitter used in email formatting
redirect: url to be redirected to after submittal
receiver: name of the recipient printed on the confirmation HTML page
title: header on top of the returned confirmation HTML page
bgcolor: background color on the confirmation HTML page
background: background image on the confirmation HTML page
link_color: link color on the confirmation page
vlink_color: visited link color on the confirmation HTML page
alink_color: active link color on the confirmation HTML page
text_color: text color on the confirmation HTML page
sort: list of form fields in the order you would like them displayed separated by a comma
print_config: print out the list of %Config fields along with the form results
required: list of the form fileds you would like to be required separated by a comma
return_link_url: a url used as a footer link on the confirmation HTML page
return_link_title: the title of the return_link_url to be displayed at the footer of the confirmation HTML page
print_blank_fields: list of fields to print on the confirmation page even when left blank
missing_fields_redirect: url to redirect submitter when required fields are missing
form_url: url of the form being submitted

The realname and email form fields should be user-input as they are required for the Forms.cgi to work properly.
(Note: if your form does not need this info, supply a hidden field with dummy information for these fields). The rest are not required and can be used as either user-input or hidden fields.

Examples of how to use the Config form fields in your HTML form.