Introduction to CGI Programming

1 Python Scripts in Browsers

Apache and LAMP
dynamic web pages
2 Internet Basics
HTTP: GET and POST methods
FORM to accept user data
server-side scripting
3 Interactive Web Pages
accepting user input
greatest common divisor on the web

MCS 275 Lecture 21

Programming Tools and File Management
Jan Verschelde, 27 February 2017

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Introduction to CGI Programming

1 Python Scripts in Browsers

Apache and LAMP
dynamic web pages

2 Internet Basics
HTTP: GET and POST methods
FORM to accept user data
server-side scripting

3 Interactive Web Pages

accepting user input
greatest common divisor on the web

Programming Tools (MCS 275) introduction to CGI L-21 27 February 2017 2 / 33

the Web Server Apache
the A in LAMP

The combination of web server, scripting language, and database is

often referred to as the LAMP system.
LAMP stands for
L is Linux, the operating system;
A is Apache, the web server;
M is MySQL, the database;
P is Python, the scripting language.
Observe that all four are open source software.
Apache makes a cute pun on “a patchy web server”, but its name is in
honor of the Native American Apache tribe.
Its web site is at http://www.apache.org.

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Running Apache
on a Mac OS X

Apache is platform independent.

We will demonstrate on a Mac OS X.
1 Apache is already installed on Mac OS X,
launch Safari with http://localhost/ to verify.
2 To enable web sharing, select Sharing from the System
Preferences.
3 Instead of public_html, the Sites directory is where Mac
users store their web pages.
4 Instead of /var/www/cgi-bin, CGI scripts are in
/Library/WebServer/CGI-Executables.
CGI = Common Gateway Interface, is set of protocols through
which applications interact with web servers.
Using localhost we remain working offline.

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more instructions are needed since Yosemite

To check the version of Apache:

$ httpd -v
Server version: Apache/2.4.23 (Unix)
Server built: Aug 8 2016 16:31:34
$

To launch Apache, type sudo /usr/sbin/apachectl graceful

in a Terminal window.
Pointing the browser to localhost (or 127.0.0.1) shows It works!.
To check the configuration of Apache, type

apachectl configtest

at the command prompt.

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serving web pages from user directories
To serve web pages from user directories, in the file

/etc/apache2/extra/httpd-userdir.conf

uncomment the line that contains

Include /private/etc/apache2/users/*.conf

In /etc/apache2/httpd.conf uncomment the lines

LoadModule userdir_module libexec/apache2/mod_userdir.so

# User home directories
Include /private/etc/apache2/extra/httpd-userdir.conf

and also the line

LoadModule cgi_module libexec/apache2/mod_cgi.so

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configuration of users

In the folder /etc/apache2/users,

if <user> is your user name, in the file <user>.conf,
then add the line

Require all granted

inside the block

<Directory "/Users/<user>/Sites/">
Options Indexes MultiViews
AllowOverride None
Require all granted
</Directory>

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Running the Web Server Apache
on Windows ...

Apache is platform independent.

On a Windows 2000 Dell Latitude Laptop:
1 Download binaries of Apache webserver from
http://www.apache.org.
2 Login as Administrator and install Apache binary.
3 Connect to http://127.0.0.1:8080/
4 html files are in c:/Program Files/Apache " + "Software
Foundation/Apache2.2/htdocs"
5 scripts are in "c:/Program Files/Apache " + "Software
Foundation/Apache2.2/cgi-bin"
Important: localhost = 127.0.0.1:8080.

Programming Tools (MCS 275) introduction to CGI L-21 27 February 2017 8 / 33

Introduction to CGI Programming

1 Python Scripts in Browsers

Apache and LAMP
dynamic web pages

2 Internet Basics
HTTP: GET and POST methods
FORM to accept user data
server-side scripting

3 Interactive Web Pages

accepting user input
greatest common divisor on the web

Programming Tools (MCS 275) introduction to CGI L-21 27 February 2017 9 / 33

Python Works! – our first CGI script

The Python script python_works.py:

#!/usr/bin/python
"""
Place this in /Library/WebServer/CGI-Executables.
"""
print("Content-Type: text/plain\n\n")
print("Python works")

The first line is the location of the Python interpreter.

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dynamic web pages

#!/usr/bin/python
"""
Displays the current time in a browser window.
"""
import time
print("Content-Type: text/plain\n")
print(time.ctime(time.time()))

The time gets updated every time the page refreshes.

Programming Tools (MCS 275) introduction to CGI L-21 27 February 2017 11 / 33

Introduction to CGI Programming

1 Python Scripts in Browsers

Apache and LAMP
dynamic web pages

2 Internet Basics
HTTP: GET and POST methods
FORM to accept user data
server-side scripting

3 Interactive Web Pages

accepting user input
greatest common divisor on the web

Programming Tools (MCS 275) introduction to CGI L-21 27 February 2017 12 / 33

Dynamic Web Pages
HTTP: GET and POST methods

HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) determines request-response

communication
between web browser and web server.
Methods of HTTP:
GET method is a request for a static resource,
such as an HTML page.
Just typing the URL of the requested web page invokes
the GET method.
POST method is a request for a dynamic resource, with input
parameters of the request contained within the body of
the request.
The GET and POST methods are most commonly used.

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Elements of HTML
HyperText Markup Language
Commonly used elements in HTML documents:
HTML <HTML> marks start of HTML document,
and </HTML> marks the end.
HEAD specifies header information of a document.
TITLE specifies title of the document.
BODY contains the body text of the document.
FONT used to alter font size and color of text.
H1 to display headings of type 1,
other heading elements are H2 and H3.
P defines a paragraph.
OL ordered list, unordered list is UL.
LI list element in ordered or unordered list.
Learn HTML by looking at source of web pages.
Programming Tools (MCS 275) introduction to CGI L-21 27 February 2017 14 / 33
Introduction to CGI Programming

1 Python Scripts in Browsers

Apache and LAMP
dynamic web pages

2 Internet Basics
HTTP: GET and POST methods
FORM to accept user data
server-side scripting

3 Interactive Web Pages

accepting user input
greatest common divisor on the web

Programming Tools (MCS 275) introduction to CGI L-21 27 February 2017 15 / 33

Accepting Data from Users

To accept data from users,

three elements are generally used:
FORM contains all the code related to a form.
Its purpose is to accept user input in a systematic and
structured manner.
INPUT specifies the code used to create the form controls that
accept user input.
SELECT used to display lists in a form.
Designing and creating interactive web pages
is similar to GUI design.

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the FORM element

A form is a collection of text boxes, radio buttons,

check boxes, and buttons.
Two attributes of a form:
METHOD is GET or POST.
ACTION is typically used to specify the code that will process the
the input data.
Syntax:

<FORM METHOD="GET_or_POST" ACTION="file_name">

code_of_the_form
</FORM>

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the INPUT element

The INPUT element is specified inside a FORM element.

The INPUT elements consists of controls, such as text boxes, buttons,
radio buttons, and check boxes.
Each of these controls can have attributes:
TYPE specifies type of control to accept user input.
NAME specifies name of a control, for identification.
VALUE holds value entered by user, or default.

Five types of control:

(1) submit button; (2) text boxes; (3) radio buttons;
(4) check boxes; (5) combo boxes.

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Introduction to CGI Programming

1 Python Scripts in Browsers

Apache and LAMP
dynamic web pages

2 Internet Basics
HTTP: GET and POST methods
FORM to accept user data
server-side scripting

3 Interactive Web Pages

accepting user input
greatest common divisor on the web

Programming Tools (MCS 275) introduction to CGI L-21 27 February 2017 19 / 33

Client-Side / Server-Side scripting

We distinguish between
Client-Side Scripting: processed by browser
advantage: saves time of the server
Server-Side Scripting: processed by server
needed for synchronization, modification of data
server time is then the time
Python is a powerful server-side scripting language.
The cgi module has to be imported,
in order to communicate the data from client.

Programming Tools (MCS 275) introduction to CGI L-21 27 February 2017 20 / 33

Introduction to CGI Programming

1 Python Scripts in Browsers

Apache and LAMP
dynamic web pages

2 Internet Basics
HTTP: GET and POST methods
FORM to accept user data
server-side scripting

3 Interactive Web Pages

accepting user input
greatest common divisor on the web

Programming Tools (MCS 275) introduction to CGI L-21 27 February 2017 21 / 33

Prompting for a Number

1 The displayed web page uses a form element.

2 The form contains two input elements
3 After the user hits submit, a Python script will run.

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the User enters a Number

Observe the URL: it contains the data.

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the User enters Nothing

The user receives an error message.

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Form and Input Elements

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE> MCS 275 Lec 21: give a number </TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>

<FORM action="http://localhost/cgi-bin/give_number.py">

give a number:

<INPUT type="text" name="number" size ="8">

<INPUT type="submit">

</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Programming Tools (MCS 275) introduction to CGI L-21 27 February 2017 25 / 33

the action of python

#!/usr/bin/python
"""
Accepts a number from a form.
"""
import cgi
form = cgi.FieldStorage()
print("Content-Type: text/plain\n")
try:
n = form[’number’].value
print("your number is " + n)
except KeyError:
print("please enter a number")

Programming Tools (MCS 275) introduction to CGI L-21 27 February 2017 26 / 33

Introduction to CGI Programming

1 Python Scripts in Browsers

Apache and LAMP
dynamic web pages

2 Internet Basics
HTTP: GET and POST methods
FORM to accept user data
server-side scripting

3 Interactive Web Pages

accepting user input
greatest common divisor on the web

Programming Tools (MCS 275) introduction to CGI L-21 27 February 2017 27 / 33

GCD on the Web
web computing of the greatest common divisor

The html code extends naturally.

When the user submits the numbers, their greatest common divisor will
be computed and displayed.

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Output of Web GCD
Euclid does web computing

Which computer does the computation?

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The HTML Code

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE> MCS 275 Lec 21: web gcd </TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>

<FORM action="http://localhost/cgi-bin/web_gcd.py">
<P> give first number:
<input type="text" name="A" size ="40"> </P>
<P>give second number:
<input type="text" name="B" size ="40"> </P>
<P> <input type="submit"> </P>
</FORM>

</BODY>
</HTML>

Programming Tools (MCS 275) introduction to CGI L-21 27 February 2017 30 / 33

The Python Script
#!/usr/bin/python
"""
Script to compute the greatest common divisor
of two numbers entered via a form.
"""
import cgi
form = cgi.FieldStorage()
print("Content-Type: text/plain\n")
try:
x = form[’A’].value
print("your first number is " + x)
except KeyError:
print("please enter a first number")
try:
y = form[’B’].value
print("your second number is " + y)
except KeyError:
print("please enter a second number")

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The Python Script continued

def gcd(alpha, beta):

"""
Returns the greatest common divisor
of the numbers alpha and beta.
"""
rest = alpha % beta
if rest == 0:
return beta
else:
return gcd(beta, rest)

ix = int(x)
iy = int(y)
print("gcd(%d,%d) = %d" % (ix, iy, gcd(ix, iy)))

Programming Tools (MCS 275) introduction to CGI L-21 27 February 2017 32 / 33

Summary + Assignments

Exercises:
1 Make your own web page, using people.uic.edu.
2 Verify if Apache is installed on your computer.
Install Apache if necessary.
3 Design a web interface to convert pounds into kilograms and
kilograms into pounds.
4 Take the script facnum.py of Lecture 1
and write a web interface for it.

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