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Writing a Search CGI running on a local host

I would like some pointers on how to write a search CGI running on a local host, meaning searching in a folder of HTML files on my computer.

I especially need help in how to build the local host server and how to call the search CGI running from it.
The other point I am not sure about is how I return the results back to my browser.

rj2

You should install web server (e.g Apache),install Perl and save you CGI script in cgi-bin directory.
If you have configured web server correctly, you should be able to access cgi script like http://localhost/cgi-bin/myscript.pl

Here are some links:
Apache web server: http://www.apache.org
Activstate Perl: http://www.activestate.com/Products/ActivePerl/

Below is sample cgi script that returns "hello world" in browser.

#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;

print "Content-Type: text/html\n\n";
print "<HTML><BODY>Hello world</BODY></HTML>";

ahoffmann

would you realy re-envent the wheel? There exist http://www.htdig.org/

barakp

ASKER

I don't really understand how to configure the server.

Furthermore, I would like to note the machine the search will be done from will be Windows based.

Thanks for what you wrote so far it is great.

barakp

ASKER

Meaning the server needs to run from a Window's based machine.

rj2

Well, for a basic setup I don't think you have to configure anything.
What Windows version do you have (95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP) ?

Please follow instructions below to get started.

Here is link to Windows version of Apache
http://apache.archive.sunet.se/dist/httpd/binaries/win32/apache_2.0.36-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi

Download it and install it.

Then download and install Perl.
http://www.activestate.com/Products/ActivePerl/

Test your web server by clicking this url
http://localhost

You should get a welcome message from Apache.

Then save the "hello world" cgi script above as "myscript.pl" under the cgi-bin directory where you installed Apache.

Then click on link below
http://localhost/cgi-bin/myscript.pl

barakp

ASKER

I need this website to be distributed via CD-ROM. Does the server need to be installed in every computer or it be installed on the CD?

rj2

CGI scripts need a web server to run, yes.
If what you want to do here is to distribute some html information with a search engine on CD-rom then IMHO it makes more sense to make the search engine in Java than to make it as a CGI script.

barakp

ASKER

Do you mean a Java application or Java applet?

I would like to search via a web browser interface.

rj2

You could write the search engine as a Java application that you could access through a web browser interface. The Java application would need to speak http for this to work.

I suggest Java because it has excellent network support, is platform independent and most users will already have Java support installed, but it is possible to use other languages too, including Perl.

Do you know something about the users that will use the CD-rom, is it a closed, small group or could it be anybody?
Can you assume something about which OS they use?

barakp

ASKER

It's a group of 30 people using some sort of Windows OS.

Can a Java application be called upon from a web browser?

rj2

Yes, if the Java aplications listens on some port (e.g. 6020), you can access it from web browser like http://localhost:6020
The Java application would need to written as a miniature web server.

Will the CD-ROM users be willing to install a web server and Perl in order to use the CD-ROM?

If yes, writing a CGI script is probably less work than writing a Java application.
If no, or if you plan wider distribution later, a Java application means less installation headaches for the users.

barakp

ASKER

Can you explain to me how I get the Java application to listen to a port?

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rj2

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barakp

ASKER

The site looks great. Give me some time to check it out.