doc/help/cgi.html

   1 <HTML>
   2 <!-- SECTION: Getting Started -->
   3 <HEAD>
   4         <TITLE>Using CGI Programs</TITLE>
   5 </HEAD>
   6 <BODY>
   7
   8 <P>CUPS has traditionally provided a dynamic web interface
   9 through dedicated CGI programs that are executed when users open
  10 special directories on the CUPS server. Each CGI performs
  11 administration, class, help, job, and printer functions as
  12 directed by the user, but the actual programs that are run and
  13 functions that are available are limited to those that were
  14 originally designed into the scheduler.</P>
  15
  16 <P>Support is now available for CGI programs and specific
  17 scripting languages, currently Java, Perl, PHP, and Python.  The
  18 interpreters for these languages are currently configured at
  19 compile time.  Future versions may expand the interface to allow
  20 for generic support of scripting languages similar to the Apache
  21 "AddHandler" directive, but with external programs instead of
  22 modules.</P>
  23
  24 <P>Table 1 shows the MIME media types that are reserved for the
  25 CGI support in CUPS. The names have been chosen to mirror those
  26 used by Apache:</P>
  27
  28 <DIV CLASS="table"><TABLE SUMMARY="CGI MIME Media Types">
  29 <CAPTION>Table 1: CGI MIME Media Types</CAPTION>
  30 <TR>
  31         <TH>MIME Media Type</TH>
  32         <TH>Description</TH>
  33 </TR>
  34 <TR>
  35         <TD>application/x-httpd-cgi</TD>
  36         <TD>CGI script/program</TD>
  37 </TR>
  38 <TR>
  39         <TD>application/x-httpd-java</TD>
  40         <TD>Java program</TD>
  41 </TR>
  42 <TR>
  43         <TD>application/x-httpd-perl</TD>
  44         <TD>Perl script</TD>
  45 </TR>
  46 <TR>
  47         <TD>application/x-httpd-php</TD>
  48         <TD>PHP script</TD>
  49 </TR>
  50 <TR>
  51         <TD>application/x-httpd-python</TD>
  52         <TD>Python script</TD>
  53 </TR>
  54 </TABLE></DIV>
  55
  56 <H2><A NAME="CONFIG">Configuring the Server</A></H2>
  57
  58 <P>In order to enable the corresponding type, you must create a
  59 new <VAR>/etc/cups/cgi.types</VAR> file which maps the filename
  60 extensions to the appropriate MIME type, for example:</P>
  61
  62 <PRE CLASS="command">
  63 application/x-httpd-cgi cgi
  64 application/x-httpd-java class
  65 application/x-httpd-perl pl
  66 application/x-httpd-php php
  67 application/x-httpd-python py
  68 </PRE>
  69
  70 <P>CGI scripts/programs (application/x-httpd-cgi) also must have
  71 execution permissions to be treated as a CGI script or
  72 program.</P>
  73
  74 <H2><A NAME="LIMITS">Limitations</A></H2>
  75
  76 <P>CUPS implements most of the CGI/1.1 specification, with the
  77 following exceptions:</P>
  78
  79 <UL>
  80
  81         <LI>No PATH_INFO or PATH_TRANSLATED support</LI>
  82
  83         <LI>Limited HTTP field support; only the Content-Length
  84         (CONTENT_LENGTH), Cookie (HTTP_COOKIE), and User-Agent
  85         (HTTP_USER_AGENT) fields are placed in environment
  86         variables at this time</LI>
  87
  88 </UL>
  89
  90 </BODY>
  91 </HTML>