CGI == Common Gateway Interface NORMALLY, THE URL SENT BY A BROWSER IDENTIFIES A PREEXISTING FILE WHICH IS RETURNED BY THE SERVER. WITH CGI: THE URL SENT IDENTIFIES A PROGRAM AND MAY PROVIDE PARAMETERS FOR THE PROGRAM. THE SERVER RUNS THE PROGRAM SPECIFIED BY THE URL AND PASSES THE PARAMETERS IN THE URL TO THE PROGRAM. THE SERVER RETURNS WHATEVER INFORMATION (HTML, AN IMAGE, ...) THE PROGRAM PRODUCE TO THE BROWSER. THE IDEA IS THAT THIS MECHANISM PROVIDES A "GATEWAY" BETWEEN THE WEB SERVER AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION ON THE SERVER MACHINE.

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This page is part of a section of lecture slides related to " Common Gateway Interface " within the topic "CGI and HTML Forms". Other slides within this section and other sections of slides for the topic "CGI and HTML Forms" can be accessed using the links below. Common Gateway Interface CGI == Common Gateway Interface HTML Forms Forms Forms (cont.) FORM ACTION ATTRIBUTE Form Input Elements The Submit Button Text Input Fields Name/Value Pairs Checkboxes Radio Buttons Other "INPUT" Elements The "TEXTAREA" Tag Selection Lists Selection Lists (cont.)