Project 2 - Forms calling CGI Scripts
Contents included in this project:

Project Description and Write-up

For the project, there are included in this page, two search forms that call two different CGI scripts - both located at different sites on the Internet. The forms included on this page call these scripts even though they are not located on the same machine.

In order to facilitate these forms, the most important step includes getting the "action=http:// . . . " statement right. This action statement calls the appropriate script at the appropriate location at the target machine hosting the script. Without doing this correctly, the data collected in the form is destined for failure!

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Example One - Form to Yahoo Advanced Search

Here is an example of a form calling a CGI routine at the Yahoo site. The defaults have been changed! For example purposes, the form is taken almost exactly as it is from the website. The original site is:

www.yahoo.com/search /options
  help
Yahoo!   Usenet
Select a search method:
Intelligent default
An exact phrase match
Matches on all words (AND)
Matches on any word (OR)
Select a search area:
Yahoo Categories
Web Sites
Find only new listings added during the past
After the first result page, display matches per page
Please note that most of the options selected will not be carried over to other search engines.

search tips | advanced search syntax

Copyright © 1994-1999 Yahoo! All rights reserved.

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Example Two -

Here is an example of a form calling a CGI routine at Mapquest.com. The defaults have been changed as well. The original site is: www.mapquest.com

The form has been modified to show the destination address as the address of the church where I am getting married! I also changed the destination "Select" field to a hidden one.

  Enter Starting Address
Select:
Address/Intersection:

City:

State:
Destination Address of Fourth Presbyterian Church below:

Address/Intersection:

City:

State:
Route Type
Door-to-Door
 Very specific directions...best for  navigating downtown. (US only)
City-to-City
 Route overview...best for long trips. (North America only)
Display Type
Overview Map with Text
Text Only
Turn-by-Turn Maps with Text
(for Door-to-Door route type Only)
 

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Other Form Examples -

Here are other examples of forms I have implemented that call CGI scripts:

  • www.ideaReserve.com uses two forms on the same main frame page.  The two scripts do the following:
    • Register a visitor with the company's mailing list
    • Grab stock quotes from www.qoute.com's web site, returning with their stock page in the site's main frame.
  • Clicking on the "Feedback" button will show the visitor a feedback form that will submit an email to the "formmail.pl" form handler at the local site.   In addition, an automated response is returned to the email address entered at the base of the feedback form.

Another example is the wedding website I started for Project #1. I have expanded the site to include two forms, the MapQuest one above, and a form calling a formmail script that sends me information on tuxedo sizes as the groomsmen submit the forms. The URL for this is www.imwiz.com/weddingsite/mainsite/ceremonyframes.htm. The tuxedo form is accessed from the frame on the left side.

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