Special Edition
Using Perl
for
Web Programming

David Harlan, et al.

Chapter 1   Perl Overview

• Perl
  • Origins
  • Borrowings
  • Cost and Licensing
  • Distribution
• Perl Programs
  • Invocation
  • Command-Line Arguments
  • Program Layout
• Data Types
  • Scalars
  • Arrays
  • Associative Arrays
  • File Handles
• Special Variables
  • Environment Variables
  • Program Arguments
  • Current Line
  • System Error Messages
• Flow Control
  • Logical Operators
  • Conditional Expressions
  • Compound Statements
  • Loops
  • Labels
  • Subroutines
  • Variable Scope
• Patterns
  • Regular Expressions
  • Matching
  • Substitution
• From Here

Chapter 2   Introduction to CGI

• Justifying the Use of CGI
  • Reasons for Using Perl
  • How to Make Perl Do CGI
• Understanding CGI
  • Calling a Script from a Form
  • Getting Information to the Script
  • Processing QUERY_STRING into Useful Chunks
  • Using Regular Expressions tr/// and s///
  • Printing the Page
  • Creating a Script on Your Web Server
  • Calling a CGI Script Directly
  • Limiting Data-File Size
  • Using the Location Header
  • Using CGI in Server-Side Includes
• From Here

Chapter 3   Advanced Form Processing and Data Storage

• Using the POST Method
  • Comparing GET and POST
  • Processing the Information from a POST-Method Form
• Making Your Perl Code Modular
  • Defining and Calling Subroutines
  • Using Variable Aliases
• Using DBM Files for Data Storage
  • Opening a DBM File
  • Assigning Values to a DBM File
  • Initializing a DBM File
  • Adding Data to the DBM File
• Using Complex Forms and Storing Related Data
  • Processing the Form Data and Checking the Password
  • Working Around the Limitations of DBM Files
• From Here

Chapter 4   Advanced Page Output

• Parsing the DBM File and Printing Pages
  • Printing a Standard Page
  • Printing User-Designed Pages
• Returning Data to a Form for Further Revision
  • Filling in Text Fields and Selecting List Items
  • Saving and Editing User-Designed Pages
• From Here

Chapter 5   Searching

• Searching the Full Text of Your Site
  • Scanning Directories Using a Recursive Subroutine
  • Using Recursive Subroutines
  • Processing the Files in Each Directory
• Using an Index Search
  • Indexing Your Web Site into a DBM File
  • Performing a Search Using the Index File
• Printing the Resulting Pages
  • Returning Pages from the Nonindex Search
  • Returning Pages from the Index Search
• From Here

Chapter 6   Using Dynamic Pages

• Generating HTML Pages
• Understanding the CGI Environment and HTML Generation
  • CGI Environment Variables Using the GET Method
  • CGI Environment Variables Using the POST Method
• Referring the User to Browser-Specific Web Pages
• Using Client Pull with Perl
• Using Server Push with Perl
• From Here

Chapter 7   Dynamic and Interactive HTML Content in Perl and CGI

• Creating User-Specific Pages
  • Allowing the User to Shop for Options
  • Building an HTML Document Based on Options
• Using Server-Side Includes
  • Understanding the SSI Commands
  • Setting up an Environment for Server-Side Includes
  • Understanding the Commands
• Understanding Shopping Carts
  • Shopping Cart Using Hidden Fields
  • Shopping Cart Using HTTP Cookies
• From Here

Chapter 8   Understanding Basic User Authentication

• Basic User Authentication
  • Processes and User IDs
  • CGI Program Execution
  • Access Control
  • User Identification
• User Authentication on the Apache Server
  • Access Restrictions
  • Apache Configuration Files
  • Configuration Directives
• User Administration
  • Adding Users
  • Deleting Users
  • Changing Passwords
  • Adding Users to Groups
  • Deleting Users from Groups
• From Here

Chapter 9   Understanding CGI Security

• Understanding the Security Issues
  • Tracing the Chain of Command
  • Reading Files
  • Writing to Files
  • Storing Variables
  • Losing the Data
• Managing Sessions
  • The Nature of a Session
  • The Wrapper
  • Generic Substitutions
  • Flow Control
• Designing the Sample Application
  • Program Flow
  • Data Issues
• Implementing the Sample Application
  • Getting Started: The Main Routine
  • Getting the CGI Values
  • Reading the Product Data
  • Invoking a Specific Function
  • Parsing an HTML File
  • Initiating a Login
• Logging In and Out
  • Logging In
  • Validating the User
  • Logging Out
• Managing Session Data
  • Storing Session Data
  • Retrieving Session Data
• Managing the Orders
  • Building an Order
  • Reviewing the Order
  • Placing the Order
• Wrapping Up
• From Here

Chapter 10   Site Administration

• Working with Web Server Log Files
  • Generating HTML Output from a Log File
  • Reviewing the AccessWatch Log Analyzer
• Understanding File Maintenance
• Understanding Robots and the Robot-Exclusion Standard
• Configuring Some Common Web Servers
  • O'Reilly's WebSite
  • NCSA httpd
  • Apache
• Examining Some Other File- and Site-Administration Issues
• From Here

Chapter 11   Database Interaction

• Justifying Perl/Database Interaction
• Examining the Database Options
  • DBI and DBD Database Access Modules for Perl 5
  • mSQL and mSQLPerl
  • Oracle RDBMS and Oraperl
  • Starting a New Message Thread
  • Listing Threads and Displaying the Contents of a Single Thread
  • Navigating Through Messages and Posting Replies
• From Here

Chapter 12   Database Application Using CGI

• Fundamental Design and Security Issues
  • Advantages and Disadvantages of a Web/RDBMS Interface
  • Limitations of HTTP in a Database Context
  • Security Issues
• A Simple Working Example in Perl
  • Accessing a DBMS from Perl
  • Defining the Database Schema for the Working Example
  • Searching the Hotlist
  • Viewing the Detail Record
  • Submitting Data to the Hotlist
  • Generating SQL Code to Transfer Submitted Data
• Perl Tools for Web/DBMS Work
  • WDB
  • Web/Genera
  • MiniSQL (mSQL) and W3-mSQL
  • DBI
  • ODBC Tools
  • Some Useful Hotlists
• Problem-Solving
  • Debugging
  • Tuning Performance
• The Future of Web/Database Interfaces
• From Here...

Chapter 13   Special Variables

• $<I<digit>>
• $[
• $ACCUMULATOR
• $ARG
• $ARGV
• $BASETIME
• $CHILD_ERROR
• $DEBUGGING
• $EFFECTIVE_GROUP_ID
• $EFFECTIVE_USER_ID
• $EVAL_ERROR
• $EXECUTABLE_NAME
• $FORMAT_FORMFEED
• $FORMAT_LINES_LEFT
• $FORMAT_LINES_PER_PAGE
• $FORMAT_LINE_BREAK_CHARACTERS
• $FORMAT_NAME
• $FORMAT_PAGE_NUMBER
• $FORMAT_TOP_NAME
• $INPLACE_EDIT
• $INPUT_LINE_NUMBER
• $INPUT_RECORD_SEPARATOR
• $LAST_PAREN_MATCH
• $LIST_SEPARATOR
• $MATCH
• $MULTILINE_MATCHING
• $OFMT
• $OS_ERROR
• $OUTPUT_AUTOFLUSH
• $OUTPUT_FIELD_SEPARATOR
• $OUTPUT_RECORD_SEPARATOR
• $PERLDB
• $PERL_VERSION
• $POSTMATCH
• $PREMATCH
• $PROCESS_ID
• $PROGRAM_NAME
• $REAL_GROUP_ID
• $REAL_USER_ID
• $SUBSCRIPT_SEPARATOR
• $SYSTEM_FD_MAX
• $WARNING
• %ENV<variable_name>,<variable_value>
• %INC<file-name>,<file-load-status>
• %SIG<signal-name>,<signal-value>
• @ARGV
• @INC
• From Here...

Chapter 14   Operators

• !
• !=
• !~
• %
• %=
• &
• &&
• &&=
• &=
• *
• **
• **=
• *=
• + (Unary)
• + (Binary)
• ++
• +=
• ,
• - (Unary)
• - (Binary)
• --
• -=
• ->
• .
• ..
• .=
• /
• /=
• <
• <<
• <<=
• <=
• <=>
• =
• ==
• =>
• =~
• >
• >=
• >>
• >>=
• ?
• LIST Operators (Leftward)
• LIST Operators (Rightward)
• NAMED Unary Operators
• TERMs
• "
• ^
• ^=
• and
• cmp
• eq
• ge
• gt
• le
• lt
• ne
• not
• or
• x
• x=
• xor
• |
• |=
• ||
• ||=
• ~
• From Here...

Chapter 15   Function List