Eighty percent of our technical support questions
are server-related issues. Any software which is
loaded on the server side will need to be compatible
with that server. Problem...No two webservers are
configured in the same manner.
One of our technical support representatives, Jeneth
Hawke, once said it best. "Server configurations are to
servers like opinions are to people. They all have one and
they're all different." While server administrators do
have guidelines they can follow when configuring their
server(s), there are no hard rules to follow, and in fact,
most server administrators like to experiment.
This does not mean that any one set up is wrong or
better than the next, simply different.
Solution...Well, as there is no one way to set up
a server, there is also no one correct way to
make Internet software compatible. Internet
programmers have much the same freedom as server
administrators, the only real difference being, it becomes
the programmers job to anticipate what the server
administrators may require of a program, and adapt
the programs to meet the server requirements.
With literally thousands of server configurations to
program for, it does make for a difficult job.
Here are a few things to look for when installing
CGI Software:
- Software requirements. Has the author predetermined
what you will need in order to successfully run the
program?
- Permission Settings. Also referred to as "chmod".
Are the permissions set correctly for the server
which you are using?
- Directory Paths. Have the files been placed in the
correct directories?
- Compatibility with other software. Are you using any
text or html editing software which could be changing
or misinterpreting your settings?
- Browser compatibility. Are you using a browser
which may not allow you to view the finished product
correctly?
- ASCII Format. Have you transferred all of the
files in ASCII mode? Transferring text files in
binary mode will seriously harm CGI programs.
- Provider Requirements. Does your current hosting
provider allow CGI scripts to be installed onto their
webservers?
Editor's Note: Going hand-in-hand with this article, we're pleased to also
offer an article this month concerning the every-present and always misleading "Internal Server Error".
Check it out.
