Apache::ASP - Active Server Pages for Apache (all platforms)
SetHandler perl-script PerlHandler Apache::ASP PerlSetVar Global /tmp # must be some writeable directory
This is a portable solution, similar to ActiveWare's PerlScript and MKS's PScript implementation of perl for IIS ASP. Work has been done and will continue to make ports to and from these other implementations as seemless as possible.
> perl Makefile.PL > make > make test > make install
* use nmake for win32
AllowOverride All
in your <Directory> config section to let the .htaccess file in the /eg installation directory do its work.
If you want a STARTER config file, just look at the .htaccess file in the /eg directory.
Here is a Location directive that you would put in a *.conf Apache configuration file. It describes the ASP variables that you can set. Don't set the optional ones if you don't want, the defaults are fine...
##ASP##PERL##APACHE##UNIX##WINNT##ASP##PERL##APACHE##NOT##IIS##ASP## ## INSERT INTO Apache *.conf file, probably access.conf ##ASP##PERL##APACHE##ACTIVE##SERVER##PAGES##SCRIPTING##FREE##PEACE##
<Location /asp/>
########################################################### ## mandatory ###########################################################
# Generic apache directives to make asp start ticking. SetHandler perl-script PerlHandler Apache::ASP
# Global
# ------
# Must be some writeable directory. Session and Application
# state files will be stored in this directory, and
# as this directory is pushed onto @INC, you will be
# able to "use" and "require" files in this directory.
#
PerlSetVar Global /tmp
###########################################################
## optional flags
###########################################################
# CookiePath # ---------- # Url root that client responds to by sending the session cookie. # If your asp application falls under the server url "/ASP", # then you would set this variable to /ASP. This then allows # you to run different applications on the same server, with # different user sessions for each application. # PerlSetVar CookiePath /
# AllowSessionState # ----------------- # Set to 0 for no session tracking, 1 by default # If Session tracking is turned off, performance improves, # but the $Session object is inaccessible. # PerlSetVar AllowSessionState 1
# SessionTimeout # -------------- # Session timeout in minutes (defaults to 20) # PerlSetVar SessionTimeout 20
# Debug # ----- # 1 for server log debugging, 2 for extra client html output # Use 1 for production debugging, use 2 for development. # Turn off if you are not debugging. # PerlSetVar Debug 2
# BufferingOn # ----------- # default 1, if true, buffers output through the response object. # $Response object will only send results to client browser if # a $Response->Flush() is called, or if the asp script ends. Lots of # output will need to be flushed incrementally. # # If false, 0, the output is immediately written to the client, # CGI style. # # I would only turn this off if you have a really robust site, # since error handling is poor, if your asp script errors # after sending only some text. # PerlSetVar BufferingOn 1
# StatINC # ------- # default 0, if true, reloads perl libraries that have changed # on disk automatically for ASP scripts. If false, the www server # must be restarted for library changes to take effect. # # A known bug is that any functions that are exported, e.g. confess # Carp qw(confess), will not be refreshed by StatINC. To refresh # these, you must restart the www server. # PerlSetVar StatINC 1
# SessionSerialize # ---------------- # default 0, if true, locks $Session for duration of script, which # serializes requests to the $Session object. Only one script at # a time may run, with sessions allowed. # # Serialized requests to the session object is the Microsoft ASP way, # but is dangerous in a production environment, where there is risk # of long-running or run-away processes. If these things happen, # a session may be locked for an indefinate period of time. The # terrible STOP button, would be easy prey here, where a user # keeps hitting stop and reload, and the scripts execute one at a time # until finished. A run-away process would keep the session locked # until server restart. # PerlSetVar SessionSerialize 0
# SoftRedirect # ------------ # default 0, if true, a $Response->Redirect() does not end the # script. Normally, when a Redirect() is called, the script # is ended automatically. SoftRedirect 1, is a standard # way of doing redirects, allowing for html output after the # redirect is specified. # SoftRedirect 0
# NoState # ------- # default 0, if true, neither the $Application nor $Session objects will # be created. Use this for a performance increase. Please note that # this setting takes precedence over the AllowSessionState setting. # NoState 0
</Location>
##ASP##PERL##APACHE##UNIX##WINNT##ASP##PERL##APACHE##NOT##IIS##ASP## ## END INSERT ##ASP##PERL##APACHE##ACTIVE##SERVER##PAGES##SCRIPTING##!#MICROSOFT##
You can use the same config in .htaccess files without the Location tag. I use the <Files ~ (\.asp)> tag in the .htaccess file of the directory that I want to run my asp application. This allows me to mix other file types in my application, static or otherwise.
A simple asp page would look like:
<!-- sample here -->
<html>
<body>
For loop incrementing font size: <p>
<% for(1..5) { %>
<!-- iterated html text -->
<font size="<%=$_%>" > Size = <%=$_%> </font> <br>
<% } %>
</body>
</html>
<!-- end sample here -->
Notice that your perl code blocks can span any html. The for loop above iterates over the html without any special syntax.
Currently the Apache::ASP object model supports the following:
Object -- Function ------ -------- $Session -- session state $Response -- output $Request -- input $Application -- application state $Server -- OLE support + misc
These objects, and their methods are further defined in the following sections.
$Session object keeps track of user + web client state, in
a persistent manner, making it relatively easy to develop web applications.
The $Session state is stored accross HTTP connections, in
SDBM_Files in the Global directory, and will persist across server
restarts.
The user's session is referenced by a 32-byte md5-hashed cookie, and can be considered secure from session_id guessing, or session hijacking. When a hacker fails to guess a session, the system times out for a second, and with 2**128 (3.4e38) keys to guess, a hacker won't be guessing an id any time soon. Compare the 32-byte key with Miscrosoft ASP implementation which is only 16 bytes.
If an incoming cookie matches a timed out or non-existent session, a new session is created with the incoming id. If the id matches a currently active session, the session is tied to it and returned. This is also similar to Microsoft's ASP implementation.
The $Session ref is a hash ref, and can be used as such to
store data as in:
$Session->{count}++; # increment count by one
%{$Session} = (); # clear $Session data
The $Session object state is implemented through MLDBM &
SDBM_File, and a user should be aware of MLDBM's limitations. Basically,
you can read complex structures, but not write them, directly:
$data = $Session->{complex}{data}; # Read ok.
$Session->{complex}{data} = $data; # Write NOT ok.
$Session->{complex} = {data => $data}; # Write ok, all at once.
Please see MLDBM for more information on this topic. $Session
can also be used for the following methods and properties:
$Session
object but does have a wide array of methods to call.
$time in
SECONDS in which the document should expire. A time of 0 means immediate
expiration. The header generated is a standard HTTP date like: ``Wed, 09
Feb 1994 22:23:32 GMT''.
$date being an
absolute time to expire. Formats accepted are all those accepted by
HTTP::Date::str2time(), e.g.
"Wed, 09 Feb 1994 22:23:32 GMT" -- HTTP format "Tuesday, 08-Feb-94 14:15:29 GMT" -- old rfc850 HTTP format
"08-Feb-94" -- old rfc850 HTTP format (no weekday, no time) "09 Feb 1994" -- proposed new HTTP format (no weekday, no time)
"Feb 3 1994" -- Unix 'ls -l' format "Feb 3 17:03" -- Unix 'ls -l' format
$message to the server log.
Write($data), since binary data can be in a scalar.
$name to the
value $value. If $key is not defined, then the Value of the
cookie is assumed. ASP CookiePath is assumed to be / in these examples.
$Response->Cookies("Test Name", "", "Test Value");
[... results in ...]
Set-Cookie: Test+Name=Test+Value path=/
$Response->Cookies("Test", "data1", "test value");
$Response->Cookies("Test", "data2", "more test");
$Response->Cookies("Test", "Expires", &HTTP::Date::time2str(time() + 86400)));
$Response->Cookies("Test", "Secure", 1);
$Response->Cookies("Test", "Path", "/");
$Response->Cookies("Test", "Domain", "host.com");
[... results in ...]
Set-Cookie: Test=data1=test+value&data2=more+test; expires=Wed, 09 Feb 1994 22:23:32 GMT; path=/; domain=host.com; secure
Because this is perl, you can (NOT PORTABLE) reference the cookies directly through hash notation. The same 5 commands above could be compressed to:
$Response->{Cookies}{Test} = {
Secure => 1,
Value => {data1 => 'test value', data2 => 'more test'},
Expires => 86400, # not portable shortcut, see above for proper use
Domain => 'host.com',
Path => '/'
};
and the first command would be:
# you don't need to use hash notation when you are only setting
# a simple value
$Response->{Cookies}{'Test Name'} = 'Test Value';
For more information on Cookies, please go to the source at: http://home.netscape.com/newsref/std/cookie_spec.html
# A normal use of this feature would be to iterate through the # form variables in the form hash...
$form = $Request->Form();
for(keys %{$form}) {
$Response->Write("$_: $form->{$_}<br>\n");
}
# Please see the eg/server_variables.htm asp file for this # method in action.
$key is
specified, then a lookup will be done on the cookie as if it were a query
string. So, a cookie set by:
Set-Cookie: test=data1=1&data2=2
would have a value of 2 returned by $Request->Cookies('test', 'data2').
If no name is specified, a hash will be returned of cookie names as keys and cookie values as values. If the cookie value is a query string, it will automatically be parsed, and the value will be a hash reference to these values.
$name used in a form
with POST method. If $name is not specified, returns a ref to
a hash of all the form data.
$name used in a form
with GET method, or passed by appending a query string to the end of a url
as in http://someurl.com/?data=value.
If $name is not specified, returns a ref to a hash of all the
query string data.
$name is not specified, returns a ref to a hash of
all the server / environment variables data. The following would be a
common use of this method:
$env = $Request->ServerVariables();
# %{$env} here would be equivalent to the cgi %ENV in perl.
$Session object, you may use the
$Application object to store data across the entire life of
the application. Every page in the ASP application always has access to
this object. So if you wanted to keep track of how many visitors there
where to the application during its lifetime, you might have a line like
this:
$Application->{num_users}++
The Lock and Unlock methods are used to prevent simultaneous access to the
$Application object.
UnLock() unlocks it, whichever comes first. When
$Application is locked, this gaurantees that data being read
and written to it will not suddenly change on you between the reads and the
writes.
This and the $Session object both lock automatically upon
every read and every write to ensure data integrity. This lock is useful
for concurrent access control purposes.
Be careful to not be too liberal with this, as you can quickly create application bottlenecks with its improper use.
$Application object. If already unlocked, does
nothing.
Set object = Server.CreateObject(program_id)
For further information, try 'perldoc Win32::OLE' from your favorite command line.
$data = $Server->URLEncode("test data");
$url = "http://localhost?data=$data";
$url evaluates to http://localhost?data=test+data, and is a valid URL for use in anchor <a> tags and redirects, etc.
AllowOverride All
in your <Directory> config section to let the .htaccess file in the /eg installation directory do its work.
IMPORTANT (FAQ): Make sure that the web server has write access to that directory. Usually a
chmod -R 0777 eg
will do the trick :)
Usually a
chmod -R -0777 eg
will take care of the write access issue for initial testing purposes.
Failing write access being the problem, try upgrading your version of Data::Dumper and MLDBM, which are the modules used to write the state files.
$main::Response->Write("html output");
This notation can be used from anywhere in perl. Only in your main ASP script, can you use the normal notation:
$Response->Write("html output");
print() from anywhere in an ASP script as it
aliases to the $Response->Write() method. However, this method is not
portable (unless you can tell me otherwise :)
perl(1), mod_perl(3), Apache(3),
MLDBM(3), HTTP::Date(3), CGI(3), Win32::OLE(3)
:) Doug MacEachern, for moral support and of course mod_perl :) Ryan Whelan, for boldly testing on Unix in its ASP's early infancy :) Lupe Christoph, for his immaculate and stubborn testing skills :) Bryan Murphy, for being a PerlScript wiz. :) Francesco Pasqualini, for bringing ASP to CGI. :) Michael Rothwell, for his love of Session hacking.