Frequently Asked Questions
What is a CGI-BIN? What is a CGI-BIN? A CGI-BIN is a directory on a web server, that allows you to run programs. How can I obtain a CGI-BIN? Running a CGI program on a web server may be dangerous sometimes due to some security and system overload issues. So, most free web space providers don't allow their members to run any CGI programs. Usually, if you want to get a CGI-BIN, you will need to spend some money for it. However, there are some hosting companies on the web that are starting to offer their members the CGI-BINs for free. Hypermart.net is an example, but they only accept business sites. What does chmod mean? Chmod is only used on UNIX systems. It sets the permission of a file or a directory. How do I chmod a script? There are several ways to chmod a file. One easy way is to use an FTP program. We are using WS_FTP to demonstrate the process. 1) Log onto your server. 2) Select the file that you want to chmod from the list.  3) Click and choose chmod from the pop up menu.  4) Set the permission. Permission "777" - For data files or directories.  Permission "755" - For CGI programs. (scripts.)  Where can I get information about mail programs and the full system path to my directory? You need to ask your hosting company. Usually, the host companies post the information on their web sites. What does "upload in ASCII mode" mean? It means you need to upload the file in plain-text mode. If you want to know what the difference between uploading in ASCII mode and Binary mode is, just upload a script to your server in binary modes. You will see why you should "always" upload your scripts and data files in ASCII mode.  What should I do if I get a 500 server error message? 1)Make sure you uploaded the script and data files in "ASCII" mode. 2)Did you chmod the scripts to permission "755" ? 3)Did you chmod the data files and and directories for storing the data files to permission "777" ? 4)Is the path to the perl bin on your server "#!/usr/bin/perl"? If it is not, open each script with a text editor then change the first line. 5)Did you set the variables correctly? If it is an email address, it requires a slash in front of the symbol @. For example: webmaster\@cgi-factory.com. If it is the full path to a directory, don't add a slash at the end. For example: $messages_location = "/data1/hypermart.net/yourusername/datas"; Why is there nothing showing up after I've inserted the SSI-calling tag into my page? You need to make sure the SSI tags that you are using are correct; You don't want to use the "full system path (/web4/home1/www/cgifactory...)" nor the "WWW path (http://...)" in the SSI tags. It has to start with something like <!--#exec cgi="/cgi-bin/..." -->. Also, you want to make sure "SSI" is enabled on your server. Sometimes, you have to name the html documents as *.shtml instead of *.html in order to enable SSI. The best way to find out how to use SSI is to ask your server admin or visit the web site of your hosting company. How do I password protect a directory on a Linux or unix Server? 1) Make sure your host allows .htaccess files. 2) Create an empty file called .htpasswd. 3) Create or modify an exisiting .htaccess file. Add the following contents into the file AuthUserFile /[full system path to your .htpasswd file]/.htpasswd AuthName "[Prompt to be displayed in the pop up window]" AuthType Basic Require valid-user 4) Upload the .htaccess file in ASCII mode to the directory that you want to protect. 5) Chmod the .htaccess file to 755. 6) Test the password protected directory. You should see a password window pops up when you try to access the directory. 7) You can start to add users by using our Membership Client .
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