I have a dumb question...

[kjohn]

Ok here it is.

What is a Unix Shell prompt? I am running Windows XP and I am trying to follow instructions on this cgi script on how to build it and they are telling me to type something in at the Unix Shell prompt. Is this just DOS? Do I just type command when I go to "run" in my start menu?

Thanks for the help with my ignorance :)

Katie

[nkaisare]

Short answer: You will not be able to run a cgi file from your desktop.

I said short answer, because it isn't completely correct. And I dont have expertise to give you correct answer on how you can run a cgi file on your WinXP computer. The cgi script that you have must be uploaded on a server. The server should allow you to run custom cgi and the server should have the language/interpreter installed on it to "run" the cgi file. The last two conditions - you may ask your server admin.

When you edit your cgi file, the first line will look something like
#!/usr/bin/perl/
This is the location of the language your cgi is written in . This line indicates that perl language is used to write the cgi commands. /usr/bin/perl/ is the path to the perl interpreter. If this was a Windows server, this line would probably be:
#!c:/server/programs/perl/

Like windows and dos, unix is another operating system. Of course it is quite different from either win or dos. Unix shell, much like dos prompt, is a place where you give commands to your machine.

I don't know if this is what you are looking for. Hoping this info was helpful
- Niket

note that cgi is an interface between your server and client's browser... server runs bunch of commands and gives output... this output is then presented to the client

[kjohn]

OK that does help. So I do have a ftp program where I am uploading this script to. I use WFTP. My server IS a Unix system. So how can I "build" this thing from there? It tell me to enter this command at the Unix Shell Prompt:

cd cgiemail-1.6
./configure
make

Then it says:

Once you have built cgiemail, simply copy the cgiemail and cgiecho binaries into your cgi-bin directory. If you are a non-webmaster installing cgiemail on a server that allows user CGI programs, you will usually need to add the extension .cgi to cgiemail and cgiecho. Contact your webmaster for details.

Does this help with explaining what I am trying to do? Thanks! :)

Katie

[jimr451]

Katie,

Do you have "telnet" or "ssh" access to your provider's server? Ftp is only for transferring files, and does not give you the "shell" being discussed.

Basically, to get this working, you'll need to "telnet" into the web server, then run the commands as they describe, then install the resulting files (cp = copy in unix), and go from there.

Hope this helps!

-Jim