CGI::Formalware(3pm)

Usage

In your browser, type: localhost/cgi-bin/x.pl

where x.pl contains nothing more than:

        #!perl -w
        use strict;
        use lib 'C:/Perl';
        use lib 'C:/Perl/Scripts/General';      # Ie $PERL5LIB.
        use CGI::Formalware;
        my($form) = CGI::Formalware -> new({form2file => 1, debug => 1});
        $form -> process();
        exit(0);

Upon starting, "CGI::Formalware" asks for the name of your XML file, which is assumed to be in cgi-bin/.

Overview

To provide a type of repository for frequently used scripts, which can then be executed locally or remotely (via Net::Telnet), by just entering a password (for remote scripts), and clicking.

Installation

You install "CGI::Formalware", as you would install any perl module library, by running these commands:

        perl Makefile.PL
        make
        make test
        make install

If you want to install a private copy of "CGI::Formalware" in your home directory, then you should try to produce the initial Makefile with something like this command:

        perl Makefile.PL LIB=~/perl
                or
        perl Makefile.PL LIB=C:/Perl/Site/Lib

If, like me, you don't have permission to write man pages into unix system directories, use:

        make pure_install

instead of make install. This option is secreted in the middle of p 414 of the second edition of the dromedary book.

Audience

Webmasters.

Security

None. Even worse, "CGI::Formalware" is designed to circumvent a web server's concept of what Apache calls DocumentRoot.

CONSTRUCTOR new

new takes either no parameters, or an anonymous hash. See the example above. Keys and values recognized are:

•: debug => 1 means turn on debugging. At the moment this opens and closes the file CGI-Formalware.log, but does not write anything to it

•: form2file => 1 means output each form to a file, using the name given by the form's formFileName attribute. The forms are written to cgi-bin/. If the form has no such attribute, this option is ignored. See example below

•: timeScripts => 1 means report elapsed time at the end of each script's output

Highlights

•: Read an XML file, whose format is fixed, and generate a suite of CGI forms

•: A cascading style sheet can be specified for each form individually

•: A Table of Contents may appear on each form

•: Each form is more-or-less assumed to contain a list of scripts

•

Tokens in the XML correspond to a few functions available in Lincoln Stein's CGI.pm. Available tokens are:

•: fileField

<fileField name = 'fileName' prompt = 'Filename: ' size = '60' override = '0' />

•: horizontalRule

<horizontalRule />

•: paragraph

<paragraph /> <paragraph text = 'Output a comment' />

•: radioGroup

<radioGroup name = 'serverName' prompt = 'Server name: ' value = 'Example|Simple|Test' columns = '1' # Optional. Defaults to '1'. Use a string, not a digit />

•: textField

<textField name = 'username' prompt = 'Username: ' value = '' size = '15' override = '0' />

Over time, more functions will be added.

•: A textField with the name 'password' is treated as a password field. Also, the entity 'script' defines a Unix- or DOS-type batch file

•: These entities produce on-screen fields, or, in the case of the scripts, a vertical array of radio buttons

•: So, to run a script you fill in whatever fields the script uses and then select that script

•: Macros in the scripts, eg %fileName% are expanded with the current value of the field whose name appears between the % signs

•: A script whose last line is 'ftp -n -v' is recognized and handled specially. Your form must contain textFields called 'host', 'username' and 'password' and 'fileName'. A binary 'get' is performed. This will be made more flexible one day

•

Scripts have an attribute 'type', which can be 'local' or 'remote'.

Remote scripts are passed to Net::Telnet, on the assumption that you know what you are doing. Your form must contain textFields called 'host', 'username' and 'password'

Navigation

Forms are linked with 'Previous form', 'Next form' buttons.

Any previously-entered textFields, except those whose name is 'password', are remembered when you return to a form. This is very convenient.

The password values are zapped by CGI.pm, not by me. This is a security feature. It means you can walk away from your system and not have someone gain automatic access to a remote system.

Cascading style sheets

Each form entity may have a 'css' attribute, giving the name of the CSS file for that form. These attribute values are like '/CGI-Formalware.css', which, under Apache, means this value is prefixed with DocumentRoot. That is, the path to the CSS is a URI, and will not be seen if in cgi-bin/.

The compulsory elements are: H1, H2 and P.TOC.

Herewith a sample:

        H1
        {
                font-size:                      20pt;
                alignment:                      center;
                color:                          teal;
        }
        H2
        {
                font-size:                      16pt;
                font-style:                     italic;
                color:                          maroon;
        }
        P.TOC
        {
                font-size:                      12pt;
                color:                          white;
                background-color:       blue;
        }

Environment

None.

Input data validation

These checks are performed:

•: Each forms entity may have a 'tocEntry' attribute. If present, and if the tocVisible attribute is 'true', then a Table of Contents is put on each form, headed by this text. The default is 'Contents'

•: Each forms entity may have a 'tocVisible' attribute. If its value is 'True', then a Table of Contents is put on each form, headed by the value of 'tocEntry'. The default is 'True'

•: Each form entity must have 'heading' and 'tocEntry' attributes

•: Each form entity must have a unique 'heading' attribute

•: Each form entity may have a unique 'formFileName' attribute. If present, then this file name is used to output the form to a file if the constructor option new({form2file => 1}) is used

•: Each fileField entity must have 'name', 'prompt', 'value' and 'size' attributes

•: Each textField entity must have 'name', 'prompt', 'value' and 'size' attributes

•: Each scripts entity must have a 'heading' attribute

•: Each script entity must have 'heading', 'type' and 'line' attributes

•: Each script entity must have a unique 'heading' attribute

•: Each script entity's 'type' attribute must be 'local' or 'remote'

XML DTD

TBA.

XML file format

Herewith a sample:

        <forms
                tocEntry        = 'Forms'
                tocVisible      = 'True'
        >
        <form
                heading                 = 'Unix Command Menu'
                tocEntry                = 'Unix menu'
                css                             = '/CGI-Formalware.css'
                formFileName    = '1.html'
        >
                <horizontalRule />
                <radioGroup
                        name    = 'host'
                        prompt  = 'Host: '
                        value   = 'bigBox|littleBox'
                />
                <paragraph />
                <textField
                        name            = 'username'
                        prompt          = 'Username: '
                        value           = ''
                        size            = '15'
                        override        = '0'
                />
                <textField
                        name            = 'password'
                        prompt          = '  Password: '
                        value           = ''
                        size            = '15'
                        override        = '0'
                />
                <horizontalRule />
                <scripts
                        heading                 = 'Unix Scripts'
                        numberScripts   = 'Yes'
                >
                        <script
                                heading         = 'Files in home directory'
                                type            = 'remote'
                                line1           = 'dir'
                        />
                        <script
                                heading         = 'Tags in repository'
                                type            = 'remote'
                                line1           = 'cd $M'
                                line2           = 'getTags'
                        />
                </scripts>
        </form>
        <form
                heading         = 'DOS Command Menu'
                tocEntry        = 'DOS menu'
        >
                <horizontalRule />
                <radioGroup
                        name    = 'host'
                        prompt  = 'Host: '
                        value   = 'bigBox|littleBox'
                />
                <paragraph text = 'Enter a username and a password.' />
                <textField
                        name            = 'username'
                        prompt          = 'Username: '
                        value           = ''
                        size            = '15'
                        override        = '0'
                />
                <textField
                        name            = 'password'
                        prompt          = '  Password: '
                        value           = ''
                        size            = '15'
                        override        = '0'
                />
                <horizontalRule />
                <fileField
                        name            = 'fileName'
                        prompt          = 'Filename: '
                        size            = '60'
                        override        = '0'
                />
                <horizontalRule />
                <scripts
                        heading = 'PC Scripts'
                >
                        <script
                                heading         = 'Files in root directory'
                                type            = 'local'
                                line1           = 'cd \'
                                line2           = 'dir'
                        />
                        <script
                                heading         = 'FTP something somewhere'
                                type            = 'local'
                                line1           = 'ftp -n -v'
                        />
                        <script
                                heading         = 'Untar a file'
                                type            = 'local'
                                line1           = 'cd \'
                                line2           = 'tar mxvzf %fileName%'
                        />
                </scripts>
        </form>
        </forms>

Nested forms

Nope, I don't recognize them. Maybe one day...

Licence

        All Programs of mine are 'OSI Certified Open Source Software';
        you can redistribute them and/or modify them under the terms of
        The Artistic License, a copy of which is available at:
        http://www.opensource.org/licenses/index.html

Releases

12 releases since Debian 3.0 (Woody); the text changed 6 times.