1. Course Introduction
Course Objectives
Course Overview
Suggested References
2. The Internet and the Web
TCP/IP and Ports
DNS vs. Hosts Files
Servers and Clients
Client/Server Protocols
3. Browsers and Servers
URLs
WEB Browsers and Servers
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol
HTTP Requests and Responses
HTTP Headers
HTTP Requests
Mime Types
4. Introduction to CGI
HTML Tag Structure
HTML Document Structure
URLs and CGI
CGI Programs
Running and Debugging from the Command Line
Running and Debugging from a Browser
Handling an HTML Form with CGI
Generating HTML
5. CGI and Perl
Perl
Perl Programs
Why Use CGI.pm (and Where is It?)
Running and Debugging from the Command Line
Generating HTML with CGI.pm
Running and Debugging from a Browser
6. Generating HTML
Introduction to CGI.pm
How to use CGI.pm’s Online Documentation
CGI.pm’s Rules for General HTML Tags
CGI.pm’s Rules for HTML Form Tags
Named vs. Positional Parameters in CGI.pm
7. Generating Forms
General Structure of HTML Forms
Form Element Tags
Pushbuttons
Radiobuttons
Checkboxes
Popups and Listboxes
Textfields, Passwords, and Textareas
8. CGI Data Flow Architecture
URL Encoding and Decoding
Data Flow between Browsers and Servers
GET vs. POST
Which to Use?
CGI Environment Variables
Accessing CGI’s Environment Variables
9. Processing Form Data
Static Forms
Dynamic Forms
Controlling Flow with User Input
Accessing Form Data Using CGI.pm
The param Method of CGI.pm
Sticky Widgets
Validating Input from the Browser
Command Line Debugging
10. Client-Side Statefulness
Stateful vs Stateless
Why use Stateful CGI Applications?
Program to Program Interaction
Stateful Access with Hidden Fields
Multiple Forms and Hidden Fields
Stateful Access with Netscape Cookies
Using Cookies with CGI.pm
Cookie Management
11. Database Access
Server-Side Statefulness
Flat-File Databases
Structuring Text Data
File Permissions and Flat-File Databases
Perl’s DBM Interface
Perl’s DBI/DBD Interface
Issues with Statefulness
12. Additional Web Programming Features
Extra Path Information
Frames
Server Side Includes (SSI)
The exec command
A Page Hit Counter Using SSI
Animation Description
Netscape’s Server Push
Client Pull
The GD.pm Module
13. CGI Security Issues
Browser to Server Security Issues
CGI Security Issues
CGI Interaction with the Operating System
Database / File System Overflow
CGI and User Authentication
14. Appendix 1 – Overview of Perl
What is Perl?
Running Perl Programs
Sample Program
Another Sample Program
Yet Another Example
15. Appendix 2 – Perl Variables
Three Types of Variables
Variable Names and Syntax
Variable Naming
Lists
Scalar and List Contexts
Hashes
Hash Functions
16. Appendix 3 – Flow Control
Simple Statements
Simple Statement Modifiers
Compound Statements
The next, last, and redo Statements
The for Loop
The foreach Loop