calling perl from php failing

jonchakra5

I am trying to excecute a perl script from a php script and use the returned html. I'm having no success. The script can successfully be called from a .shtml file. I have read this forum (and others for that matter) pretty comprehensively to no avail (alas!).

I have an old .shtml file that is calling the perl script using ssi thusly:

which looks (about) like this:


#!/usr/bin/perl

use CGI::Carp qw(fatalsToBrowser);
use CGI qw(:standard);
use DBI;
use iDB;

$debug = 1;

$client_cookie = cookie('mydom');
$seeker_cookie = cookie('mydom_jobseeker');

if ($client_cookie) {
	&known_client;
} elsif ($seeker_cookie) {
	&known_seeker;
} else {
	&unknown;
}

sub known_seeker {

&DBConnect(my_db);
$sql = "SELECT first_name,last_name FROM seekers WHERE id = $seeker_cookie";
$sth = $dbh->prepare($sql) || die "Can't prepare statement: $DBI::errstr";
$sth->execute() || die $sth->errstr;
($first_name,$last_name) = $sth->fetchrow_array;

print "<strong>Welcome back $first_name</strong>";
}

sub known_client {

&DBConnect(my_db);
$sql = "SELECT name,contact FROM clients WHERE id = $client_cookie";
$sth = $dbh->prepare($sql) || die "Can't prepare statement: $DBI::errstr";
$sth->execute() || die $sth->errstr;
($name,$contact) = $sth->fetchrow_array;

print "<p><strong>Welcome back $contact</strong>.</p>";
}

sub unknown {
    print "hey";
}

I am doing the site in php but really don't have the time to redo all the crazy scripting that has been layed down for the site.

I am trying many things in php to execute and dump the html product back into the page, but to no avail.

The closest I've come so far is to use:

exec ("personalized.cgi",$output); 

echo $output; //just for the hell of it (returns "Array")
echo count($output); // also for the hell of it (returns "0"..also know as a bloody gooseegg :-p)

while ($x<count($output)) { 
echo 'hey<br>';
    echo $output[$x].$x.": <br>"; 
    $x++; 
}

Which tells me I have an empty array.

Please help! Thank you!

HalfaBee

I don't think this will work.
Your cgi is looking for a cookie, so it has to come from the client not php.

I think a quick rewrite in php is in order here.

HalfaBee

jonchakra5

Thanks for your reply Halfabee!

I'm not sure I follow, but I get the part about "I don't think it's gonna work". garg!

That leaves me rewriting a LOT of Perl to php. Not a happy thought.

I don't really get it though. In one case it's a SSI sending and exec to the Perl scrip & in another it's a PHP script sending an exec to the Perl script.

The cookie is the cookie one way or the other and Perl is reading the same cookie in both cases. What's the diff (he asked surely showing his ignorance of the whole underworld of scripting).

Is it just the cookie that's the problem?

Can Perl execute, process and give me returns other than cookie based stuff?

Many Thanks!