annotate Doc/lib/libcgi.tex @ 13625:fdfd1049f36e legacy-trunk

Rob W. W. Hooft's spelling fixes for the Library Reference. I hope SourceForge doesn't choke on this batch :-) I'm not entirely sure this is 100% correct. The patch changes an \index{persistency} to \index{presistence}, and I don't know what \index{} does. But it seems to do so persi--er, consistently, so I hope it isn't a problem.
author Thomas Wouters <thomas@python.org>
date Sun, 16 Jul 2000 19:01:10 +0000
parents e82e82b3b9ad
children 41234ae95d2a
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1 \section{\module{cgi} ---
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2 Common Gateway Interface support.}
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3 \declaremodule{standard}{cgi}
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4
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5 \modulesynopsis{Common Gateway Interface support, used to interpret
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6 forms in server-side scripts.}
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7
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8 \indexii{WWW}{server}
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9 \indexii{CGI}{protocol}
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10 \indexii{HTTP}{protocol}
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11 \indexii{MIME}{headers}
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12 \index{URL}
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13
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14
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15 Support module for CGI (Common Gateway Interface) scripts.%
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16 \index{Common Gateway Interface}
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17
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18 This module defines a number of utilities for use by CGI scripts
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19 written in Python.
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20
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21 \subsection{Introduction}
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22 \nodename{cgi-intro}
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23
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24 A CGI script is invoked by an HTTP server, usually to process user
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25 input submitted through an HTML \code{<FORM>} or \code{<ISINDEX>} element.
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26
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27 Most often, CGI scripts live in the server's special \file{cgi-bin}
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28 directory. The HTTP server places all sorts of information about the
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29 request (such as the client's hostname, the requested URL, the query
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30 string, and lots of other goodies) in the script's shell environment,
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31 executes the script, and sends the script's output back to the client.
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32
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33 The script's input is connected to the client too, and sometimes the
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34 form data is read this way; at other times the form data is passed via
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35 the ``query string'' part of the URL. This module is intended
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36 to take care of the different cases and provide a simpler interface to
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37 the Python script. It also provides a number of utilities that help
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38 in debugging scripts, and the latest addition is support for file
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39 uploads from a form (if your browser supports it --- Grail 0.3 and
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40 Netscape 2.0 do).
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41
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42 The output of a CGI script should consist of two sections, separated
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43 by a blank line. The first section contains a number of headers,
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44 telling the client what kind of data is following. Python code to
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45 generate a minimal header section looks like this:
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46
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47 \begin{verbatim}
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48 print "Content-type: text/html" # HTML is following
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49 print # blank line, end of headers
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50 \end{verbatim}
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51
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52 The second section is usually HTML, which allows the client software
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53 to display nicely formatted text with header, in-line images, etc.
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54 Here's Python code that prints a simple piece of HTML:
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55
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56 \begin{verbatim}
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57 print "<TITLE>CGI script output</TITLE>"
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58 print "<H1>This is my first CGI script</H1>"
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59 print "Hello, world!"
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60 \end{verbatim}
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61
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62 (It may not be fully legal HTML according to the letter of the
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63 standard, but any browser will understand it.)
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64
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65 \subsection{Using the cgi module}
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66 \nodename{Using the cgi module}
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67
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68 Begin by writing \samp{import cgi}. Do not use \samp{from cgi import
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69 *} --- the module defines all sorts of names for its own use or for
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70 backward compatibility that you don't want in your namespace.
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71
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72 It's best to use the \class{FieldStorage} class. The other classes
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73 defined in this module are provided mostly for backward compatibility.
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74 Instantiate it exactly once, without arguments. This reads the form
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75 contents from standard input or the environment (depending on the
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76 value of various environment variables set according to the CGI
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77 standard). Since it may consume standard input, it should be
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78 instantiated only once.
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79
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80 The \class{FieldStorage} instance can be accessed as if it were a Python
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81 dictionary. For instance, the following code (which assumes that the
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82 \code{content-type} header and blank line have already been printed)
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83 checks that the fields \code{name} and \code{addr} are both set to a
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84 non-empty string:
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85
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86 \begin{verbatim}
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87 form = cgi.FieldStorage()
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88 form_ok = 0
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89 if form.has_key("name") and form.has_key("addr"):
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90 if form["name"].value != "" and form["addr"].value != "":
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91 form_ok = 1
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92 if not form_ok:
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93 print "<H1>Error</H1>"
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94 print "Please fill in the name and addr fields."
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95 return
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96 ...further form processing here...
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97 \end{verbatim}
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98
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99 Here the fields, accessed through \samp{form[\var{key}]}, are
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100 themselves instances of \class{FieldStorage} (or
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101 \class{MiniFieldStorage}, depending on the form encoding).
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102
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103 If the submitted form data contains more than one field with the same
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104 name, the object retrieved by \samp{form[\var{key}]} is not a
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105 \class{FieldStorage} or \class{MiniFieldStorage}
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106 instance but a list of such instances. If you expect this possibility
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107 (i.e., when your HTML form contains multiple fields with the same
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108 name), use the \function{type()} function to determine whether you
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109 have a single instance or a list of instances. For example, here's
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110 code that concatenates any number of username fields, separated by
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111 commas:
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112
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113 \begin{verbatim}
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114 username = form["username"]
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115 if type(username) is type([]):
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116 # Multiple username fields specified
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117 usernames = ""
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118 for item in username:
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119 if usernames:
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120 # Next item -- insert comma
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121 usernames = usernames + "," + item.value
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122 else:
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123 # First item -- don't insert comma
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124 usernames = item.value
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125 else:
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126 # Single username field specified
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127 usernames = username.value
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128 \end{verbatim}
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129
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130 If a field represents an uploaded file, the value attribute reads the
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131 entire file in memory as a string. This may not be what you want.
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132 You can test for an uploaded file by testing either the filename
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133 attribute or the file attribute. You can then read the data at
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134 leisure from the file attribute:
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135
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136 \begin{verbatim}
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137 fileitem = form["userfile"]
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138 if fileitem.file:
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139 # It's an uploaded file; count lines
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140 linecount = 0
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141 while 1:
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142 line = fileitem.file.readline()
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143 if not line: break
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144 linecount = linecount + 1
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145 \end{verbatim}
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146
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147 The file upload draft standard entertains the possibility of uploading
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148 multiple files from one field (using a recursive
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149 \mimetype{multipart/*} encoding). When this occurs, the item will be
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150 a dictionary-like \class{FieldStorage} item. This can be determined
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151 by testing its \member{type} attribute, which should be
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152 \mimetype{multipart/form-data} (or perhaps another MIME type matching
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153 \mimetype{multipart/*}). In this case, it can be iterated over
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154 recursively just like the top-level form object.
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155
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156 When a form is submitted in the ``old'' format (as the query string or
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157 as a single data part of type
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158 \mimetype{application/x-www-form-urlencoded}), the items will actually
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159 be instances of the class \class{MiniFieldStorage}. In this case, the
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160 list, file and filename attributes are always \code{None}.
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161
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162
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163 \subsection{Old classes}
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164
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165 These classes, present in earlier versions of the \module{cgi} module,
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166 are still supported for backward compatibility. New applications
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167 should use the \class{FieldStorage} class.
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168
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169 \class{SvFormContentDict} stores single value form content as
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170 dictionary; it assumes each field name occurs in the form only once.
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171
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172 \class{FormContentDict} stores multiple value form content as a
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173 dictionary (the form items are lists of values). Useful if your form
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174 contains multiple fields with the same name.
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175
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176 Other classes (\class{FormContent}, \class{InterpFormContentDict}) are
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177 present for backwards compatibility with really old applications only.
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178 If you still use these and would be inconvenienced when they
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179 disappeared from a next version of this module, drop me a note.
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180
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181
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182 \subsection{Functions}
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183 \nodename{Functions in cgi module}
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184
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185 These are useful if you want more control, or if you want to employ
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186 some of the algorithms implemented in this module in other
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187 circumstances.
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188
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189 \begin{funcdesc}{parse}{fp}
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190 Parse a query in the environment or from a file (default
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191 \code{sys.stdin}).
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192 \end{funcdesc}
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193
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194 \begin{funcdesc}{parse_qs}{qs\optional{, keep_blank_values, strict_parsing}}
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195 Parse a query string given as a string argument (data of type
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196 \mimetype{application/x-www-form-urlencoded}). Data are
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197 returned as a dictionary. The dictionary keys are the unique query
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198 variable names and the values are lists of values for each name.
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199
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200 The optional argument \var{keep_blank_values} is
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201 a flag indicating whether blank values in
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202 URL encoded queries should be treated as blank strings.
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203 A true value indicates that blanks should be retained as
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204 blank strings. The default false value indicates that
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205 blank values are to be ignored and treated as if they were
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206 not included.
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207
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208 The optional argument \var{strict_parsing} is a flag indicating what
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209 to do with parsing errors. If false (the default), errors
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210 are silently ignored. If true, errors raise a ValueError
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211 exception.
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212 \end{funcdesc}
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213
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214 \begin{funcdesc}{parse_qsl}{qs\optional{, keep_blank_values, strict_parsing}}
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215 Parse a query string given as a string argument (data of type
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216 \mimetype{application/x-www-form-urlencoded}). Data are
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217 returned as a list of name, value pairs.
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218
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219 The optional argument \var{keep_blank_values} is
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220 a flag indicating whether blank values in
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221 URL encoded queries should be treated as blank strings.
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222 A true value indicates that blanks should be retained as
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223 blank strings. The default false value indicates that
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224 blank values are to be ignored and treated as if they were
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225 not included.
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226
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227 The optional argument \var{strict_parsing} is a flag indicating what
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228 to do with parsing errors. If false (the default), errors
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229 are silently ignored. If true, errors raise a ValueError
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230 exception.
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231 \end{funcdesc}
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232
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233 \begin{funcdesc}{parse_multipart}{fp, pdict}
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234 Parse input of type \mimetype{multipart/form-data} (for
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235 file uploads). Arguments are \var{fp} for the input file and
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236 \var{pdict} for the dictionary containing other parameters of
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237 \code{content-type} header
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238
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239 Returns a dictionary just like \function{parse_qs()} keys are the
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240 field names, each value is a list of values for that field. This is
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241 easy to use but not much good if you are expecting megabytes to be
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242 uploaded --- in that case, use the \class{FieldStorage} class instead
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243 which is much more flexible. Note that \code{content-type} is the
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244 raw, unparsed contents of the \code{content-type} header.
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245
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246 Note that this does not parse nested multipart parts --- use
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247 \class{FieldStorage} for that.
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248 \end{funcdesc}
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249
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250 \begin{funcdesc}{parse_header}{string}
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251 Parse a header like \code{content-type} into a main
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252 content-type and a dictionary of parameters.
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253 \end{funcdesc}
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254
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255 \begin{funcdesc}{test}{}
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256 Robust test CGI script, usable as main program.
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257 Writes minimal HTTP headers and formats all information provided to
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258 the script in HTML form.
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259 \end{funcdesc}
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260
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261 \begin{funcdesc}{print_environ}{}
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262 Format the shell environment in HTML.
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263 \end{funcdesc}
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264
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265 \begin{funcdesc}{print_form}{form}
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266 Format a form in HTML.
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267 \end{funcdesc}
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268
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269 \begin{funcdesc}{print_directory}{}
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270 Format the current directory in HTML.
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271 \end{funcdesc}
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272
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273 \begin{funcdesc}{print_environ_usage}{}
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274 Print a list of useful (used by CGI) environment variables in
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275 HTML.
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276 \end{funcdesc}
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277
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278 \begin{funcdesc}{escape}{s\optional{, quote}}
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279 Convert the characters
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280 \character{\&}, \character{<} and \character{>} in string \var{s} to
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281 HTML-safe sequences. Use this if you need to display text that might
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282 contain such characters in HTML. If the optional flag \var{quote} is
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283 true, the double quote character (\character{"}) is also translated;
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284 this helps for inclusion in an HTML attribute value, e.g. in \code{<A
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285 HREF="...">}.
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286 \end{funcdesc}
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287
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288
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289 \subsection{Caring about security}
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290
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291 There's one important rule: if you invoke an external program (e.g.
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292 via the \function{os.system()} or \function{os.popen()} functions),
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293 make very sure you don't pass arbitrary strings received from the
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294 client to the shell. This is a well-known security hole whereby
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295 clever hackers anywhere on the web can exploit a gullible CGI script
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296 to invoke arbitrary shell commands. Even parts of the URL or field
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297 names cannot be trusted, since the request doesn't have to come from
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298 your form!
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299
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300 To be on the safe side, if you must pass a string gotten from a form
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301 to a shell command, you should make sure the string contains only
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302 alphanumeric characters, dashes, underscores, and periods.
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303
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304
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305 \subsection{Installing your CGI script on a Unix system}
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306
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307 Read the documentation for your HTTP server and check with your local
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308 system administrator to find the directory where CGI scripts should be
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309 installed; usually this is in a directory \file{cgi-bin} in the server tree.
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310
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311 Make sure that your script is readable and executable by ``others''; the
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312 \UNIX{} file mode should be \code{0755} octal (use \samp{chmod 0755
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313 \var{filename}}). Make sure that the first line of the script contains
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314 \code{\#!} starting in column 1 followed by the pathname of the Python
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315 interpreter, for instance:
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316
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317 \begin{verbatim}
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318 #!/usr/local/bin/python
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319 \end{verbatim}
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320
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321 Make sure the Python interpreter exists and is executable by ``others''.
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322
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323 Make sure that any files your script needs to read or write are
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324 readable or writable, respectively, by ``others'' --- their mode
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325 should be \code{0644} for readable and \code{0666} for writable. This
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326 is because, for security reasons, the HTTP server executes your script
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327 as user ``nobody'', without any special privileges. It can only read
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328 (write, execute) files that everybody can read (write, execute). The
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329 current directory at execution time is also different (it is usually
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330 the server's cgi-bin directory) and the set of environment variables
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331 is also different from what you get at login. In particular, don't
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332 count on the shell's search path for executables (\envvar{PATH}) or
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333 the Python module search path (\envvar{PYTHONPATH}) to be set to
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334 anything interesting.
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335
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336 If you need to load modules from a directory which is not on Python's
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337 default module search path, you can change the path in your script,
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338 before importing other modules, e.g.:
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339
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340 \begin{verbatim}
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341 import sys
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342 sys.path.insert(0, "/usr/home/joe/lib/python")
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343 sys.path.insert(0, "/usr/local/lib/python")
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344 \end{verbatim}
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345
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346 (This way, the directory inserted last will be searched first!)
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347
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348 Instructions for non-\UNIX{} systems will vary; check your HTTP server's
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349 documentation (it will usually have a section on CGI scripts).
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350
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351
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352 \subsection{Testing your CGI script}
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353
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354 Unfortunately, a CGI script will generally not run when you try it
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355 from the command line, and a script that works perfectly from the
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356 command line may fail mysteriously when run from the server. There's
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357 one reason why you should still test your script from the command
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358 line: if it contains a syntax error, the Python interpreter won't
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359 execute it at all, and the HTTP server will most likely send a cryptic
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360 error to the client.
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361
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362 Assuming your script has no syntax errors, yet it does not work, you
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363 have no choice but to read the next section.
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364
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365
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366 \subsection{Debugging CGI scripts}
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367
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368 First of all, check for trivial installation errors --- reading the
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369 section above on installing your CGI script carefully can save you a
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370 lot of time. If you wonder whether you have understood the
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371 installation procedure correctly, try installing a copy of this module
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372 file (\file{cgi.py}) as a CGI script. When invoked as a script, the file
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373 will dump its environment and the contents of the form in HTML form.
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374 Give it the right mode etc, and send it a request. If it's installed
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375 in the standard \file{cgi-bin} directory, it should be possible to send it a
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376 request by entering a URL into your browser of the form:
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377
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378 \begin{verbatim}
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379 http://yourhostname/cgi-bin/cgi.py?name=Joe+Blow&addr=At+Home
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380 \end{verbatim}
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381
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382 If this gives an error of type 404, the server cannot find the script
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383 -- perhaps you need to install it in a different directory. If it
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384 gives another error (e.g. 500), there's an installation problem that
5830ede4086c Document the *new* cgi.py
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385 you should fix before trying to go any further. If you get a nicely
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386 formatted listing of the environment and form content (in this
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387 example, the fields should be listed as ``addr'' with value ``At Home''
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388 and ``name'' with value ``Joe Blow''), the \file{cgi.py} script has been
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389 installed correctly. If you follow the same procedure for your own
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390 script, you should now be able to debug it.
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391
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392 The next step could be to call the \module{cgi} module's
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393 \function{test()} function from your script: replace its main code
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394 with the single statement
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395
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396 \begin{verbatim}
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397 cgi.test()
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398 \end{verbatim}
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399
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400 This should produce the same results as those gotten from installing
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401 the \file{cgi.py} file itself.
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402
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403 When an ordinary Python script raises an unhandled exception
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404 (e.g. because of a typo in a module name, a file that can't be opened,
5830ede4086c Document the *new* cgi.py
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405 etc.), the Python interpreter prints a nice traceback and exits.
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406 While the Python interpreter will still do this when your CGI script
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407 raises an exception, most likely the traceback will end up in one of
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408 the HTTP server's log file, or be discarded altogether.
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409
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410 Fortunately, once you have managed to get your script to execute
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411 \emph{some} code, it is easy to catch exceptions and cause a traceback
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412 to be printed. The \function{test()} function below in this module is
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413 an example. Here are the rules:
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414
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415 \begin{enumerate}
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416 \item Import the traceback module before entering the \keyword{try}
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417 ... \keyword{except} statement
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418
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419 \item Assign \code{sys.stderr} to be \code{sys.stdout}
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420
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421 \item Make sure you finish printing the headers and the blank line
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422 early
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423
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424 \item Wrap all remaining code in a \keyword{try} ... \keyword{except}
acd393a93ed0 Logical markup.
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425 statement
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426
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427 \item In the except clause, call \function{traceback.print_exc()}
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428 \end{enumerate}
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429
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430 For example:
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431
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432 \begin{verbatim}
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433 import sys
3468ea8645ca AMK's megapatch:
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434 import traceback
3468ea8645ca AMK's megapatch:
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435 print "Content-type: text/html"
3468ea8645ca AMK's megapatch:
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436 print
3468ea8645ca AMK's megapatch:
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437 sys.stderr = sys.stdout
3468ea8645ca AMK's megapatch:
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438 try:
3468ea8645ca AMK's megapatch:
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439 ...your code here...
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440 except:
3468ea8645ca AMK's megapatch:
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441 print "\n\n<PRE>"
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442 traceback.print_exc()
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443 \end{verbatim}
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444
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445 Notes: The assignment to \code{sys.stderr} is needed because the
acd393a93ed0 Logical markup.
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446 traceback prints to \code{sys.stderr}.
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447 The \code{print "{\e}n{\e}n<PRE>"} statement is necessary to
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448 disable the word wrapping in HTML.
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449
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450 If you suspect that there may be a problem in importing the traceback
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Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org>
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451 module, you can use an even more robust approach (which only uses
5830ede4086c Document the *new* cgi.py
Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org>
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452 built-in modules):
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Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org>
parents: 2491
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453
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454 \begin{verbatim}
5818
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455 import sys
3468ea8645ca AMK's megapatch:
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456 sys.stderr = sys.stdout
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Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org>
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457 print "Content-type: text/plain"
3468ea8645ca AMK's megapatch:
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458 print
3468ea8645ca AMK's megapatch:
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459 ...your code here...
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460 \end{verbatim}
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461
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462 This relies on the Python interpreter to print the traceback. The
5830ede4086c Document the *new* cgi.py
Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org>
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463 content type of the output is set to plain text, which disables all
5830ede4086c Document the *new* cgi.py
Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org>
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464 HTML processing. If your script works, the raw HTML will be displayed
5830ede4086c Document the *new* cgi.py
Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org>
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465 by your client. If it raises an exception, most likely after the
5830ede4086c Document the *new* cgi.py
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466 first two lines have been printed, a traceback will be displayed.
5830ede4086c Document the *new* cgi.py
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467 Because no HTML interpretation is going on, the traceback will
5830ede4086c Document the *new* cgi.py
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468 readable.
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Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org>
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469
f47bc5554418 mass changes; fix titles; add examples; correct typos; clarifications;
Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org>
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470
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471 \subsection{Common problems and solutions}
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472
f47bc5554418 mass changes; fix titles; add examples; correct typos; clarifications;
Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org>
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473 \begin{itemize}
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474 \item Most HTTP servers buffer the output from CGI scripts until the
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475 script is completed. This means that it is not possible to display a
5830ede4086c Document the *new* cgi.py
Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org>
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476 progress report on the client's display while the script is running.
5830ede4086c Document the *new* cgi.py
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477
5830ede4086c Document the *new* cgi.py
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478 \item Check the installation instructions above.
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479
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480 \item Check the HTTP server's log files. (\samp{tail -f logfile} in a
acd393a93ed0 Logical markup.
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481 separate window may be useful!)
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482
5830ede4086c Document the *new* cgi.py
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483 \item Always check a script for syntax errors first, by doing something
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484 like \samp{python script.py}.
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485
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486 \item When using any of the debugging techniques, don't forget to add
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487 \samp{import sys} to the top of the script.
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488
5830ede4086c Document the *new* cgi.py
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489 \item When invoking external programs, make sure they can be found.
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490 Usually, this means using absolute path names --- \envvar{PATH} is
acd393a93ed0 Logical markup.
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491 usually not set to a very useful value in a CGI script.
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492
5830ede4086c Document the *new* cgi.py
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493 \item When reading or writing external files, make sure they can be read
5830ede4086c Document the *new* cgi.py
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494 or written by every user on the system.
5830ede4086c Document the *new* cgi.py
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495
5830ede4086c Document the *new* cgi.py
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496 \item Don't try to give a CGI script a set-uid mode. This doesn't work on
5830ede4086c Document the *new* cgi.py
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497 most systems, and is a security liability as well.
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498 \end{itemize}
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499