diff options
author | cinap_lenrek <cinap_lenrek@localhost> | 2011-05-03 11:25:13 +0000 |
---|---|---|
committer | cinap_lenrek <cinap_lenrek@localhost> | 2011-05-03 11:25:13 +0000 |
commit | 458120dd40db6b4df55a4e96b650e16798ef06a0 (patch) | |
tree | 8f82685be24fef97e715c6f5ca4c68d34d5074ee /sys/src/cmd/python/Doc/lib/libcgi.tex | |
parent | 3a742c699f6806c1145aea5149bf15de15a0afd7 (diff) |
add hg and python
Diffstat (limited to 'sys/src/cmd/python/Doc/lib/libcgi.tex')
-rw-r--r-- | sys/src/cmd/python/Doc/lib/libcgi.tex | 602 |
1 files changed, 602 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/sys/src/cmd/python/Doc/lib/libcgi.tex b/sys/src/cmd/python/Doc/lib/libcgi.tex new file mode 100644 index 000000000..1dd7e03f3 --- /dev/null +++ b/sys/src/cmd/python/Doc/lib/libcgi.tex @@ -0,0 +1,602 @@ +\section{\module{cgi} --- + Common Gateway Interface support.} +\declaremodule{standard}{cgi} + +\modulesynopsis{Common Gateway Interface support, used to interpret +forms in server-side scripts.} + +\indexii{WWW}{server} +\indexii{CGI}{protocol} +\indexii{HTTP}{protocol} +\indexii{MIME}{headers} +\index{URL} + + +Support module for Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts.% +\index{Common Gateway Interface} + +This module defines a number of utilities for use by CGI scripts +written in Python. + +\subsection{Introduction} +\nodename{cgi-intro} + +A CGI script is invoked by an HTTP server, usually to process user +input submitted through an HTML \code{<FORM>} or \code{<ISINDEX>} element. + +Most often, CGI scripts live in the server's special \file{cgi-bin} +directory. The HTTP server places all sorts of information about the +request (such as the client's hostname, the requested URL, the query +string, and lots of other goodies) in the script's shell environment, +executes the script, and sends the script's output back to the client. + +The script's input is connected to the client too, and sometimes the +form data is read this way; at other times the form data is passed via +the ``query string'' part of the URL. This module is intended +to take care of the different cases and provide a simpler interface to +the Python script. It also provides a number of utilities that help +in debugging scripts, and the latest addition is support for file +uploads from a form (if your browser supports it). + +The output of a CGI script should consist of two sections, separated +by a blank line. The first section contains a number of headers, +telling the client what kind of data is following. Python code to +generate a minimal header section looks like this: + +\begin{verbatim} +print "Content-Type: text/html" # HTML is following +print # blank line, end of headers +\end{verbatim} + +The second section is usually HTML, which allows the client software +to display nicely formatted text with header, in-line images, etc. +Here's Python code that prints a simple piece of HTML: + +\begin{verbatim} +print "<TITLE>CGI script output</TITLE>" +print "<H1>This is my first CGI script</H1>" +print "Hello, world!" +\end{verbatim} + +\subsection{Using the cgi module} +\nodename{Using the cgi module} + +Begin by writing \samp{import cgi}. Do not use \samp{from cgi import +*} --- the module defines all sorts of names for its own use or for +backward compatibility that you don't want in your namespace. + +When you write a new script, consider adding the line: + +\begin{verbatim} +import cgitb; cgitb.enable() +\end{verbatim} + +This activates a special exception handler that will display detailed +reports in the Web browser if any errors occur. If you'd rather not +show the guts of your program to users of your script, you can have +the reports saved to files instead, with a line like this: + +\begin{verbatim} +import cgitb; cgitb.enable(display=0, logdir="/tmp") +\end{verbatim} + +It's very helpful to use this feature during script development. +The reports produced by \refmodule{cgitb} provide information that +can save you a lot of time in tracking down bugs. You can always +remove the \code{cgitb} line later when you have tested your script +and are confident that it works correctly. + +To get at submitted form data, +it's best to use the \class{FieldStorage} class. The other classes +defined in this module are provided mostly for backward compatibility. +Instantiate it exactly once, without arguments. This reads the form +contents from standard input or the environment (depending on the +value of various environment variables set according to the CGI +standard). Since it may consume standard input, it should be +instantiated only once. + +The \class{FieldStorage} instance can be indexed like a Python +dictionary, and also supports the standard dictionary methods +\method{has_key()} and \method{keys()}. The built-in \function{len()} +is also supported. Form fields containing empty strings are ignored +and do not appear in the dictionary; to keep such values, provide +a true value for the optional \var{keep_blank_values} keyword +parameter when creating the \class{FieldStorage} instance. + +For instance, the following code (which assumes that the +\mailheader{Content-Type} header and blank line have already been +printed) checks that the fields \code{name} and \code{addr} are both +set to a non-empty string: + +\begin{verbatim} +form = cgi.FieldStorage() +if not (form.has_key("name") and form.has_key("addr")): + print "<H1>Error</H1>" + print "Please fill in the name and addr fields." + return +print "<p>name:", form["name"].value +print "<p>addr:", form["addr"].value +...further form processing here... +\end{verbatim} + +Here the fields, accessed through \samp{form[\var{key}]}, are +themselves instances of \class{FieldStorage} (or +\class{MiniFieldStorage}, depending on the form encoding). +The \member{value} attribute of the instance yields the string value +of the field. The \method{getvalue()} method returns this string value +directly; it also accepts an optional second argument as a default to +return if the requested key is not present. + +If the submitted form data contains more than one field with the same +name, the object retrieved by \samp{form[\var{key}]} is not a +\class{FieldStorage} or \class{MiniFieldStorage} +instance but a list of such instances. Similarly, in this situation, +\samp{form.getvalue(\var{key})} would return a list of strings. +If you expect this possibility +(when your HTML form contains multiple fields with the same name), use +the \function{getlist()} function, which always returns a list of values (so that you +do not need to special-case the single item case). For example, this +code concatenates any number of username fields, separated by +commas: + +\begin{verbatim} +value = form.getlist("username") +usernames = ",".join(value) +\end{verbatim} + +If a field represents an uploaded file, accessing the value via the +\member{value} attribute or the \function{getvalue()} method reads the +entire file in memory as a string. This may not be what you want. +You can test for an uploaded file by testing either the \member{filename} +attribute or the \member{file} attribute. You can then read the data at +leisure from the \member{file} attribute: + +\begin{verbatim} +fileitem = form["userfile"] +if fileitem.file: + # It's an uploaded file; count lines + linecount = 0 + while 1: + line = fileitem.file.readline() + if not line: break + linecount = linecount + 1 +\end{verbatim} + +The file upload draft standard entertains the possibility of uploading +multiple files from one field (using a recursive +\mimetype{multipart/*} encoding). When this occurs, the item will be +a dictionary-like \class{FieldStorage} item. This can be determined +by testing its \member{type} attribute, which should be +\mimetype{multipart/form-data} (or perhaps another MIME type matching +\mimetype{multipart/*}). In this case, it can be iterated over +recursively just like the top-level form object. + +When a form is submitted in the ``old'' format (as the query string or +as a single data part of type +\mimetype{application/x-www-form-urlencoded}), the items will actually +be instances of the class \class{MiniFieldStorage}. In this case, the +\member{list}, \member{file}, and \member{filename} attributes are +always \code{None}. + + +\subsection{Higher Level Interface} + +\versionadded{2.2} % XXX: Is this true ? + +The previous section explains how to read CGI form data using the +\class{FieldStorage} class. This section describes a higher level +interface which was added to this class to allow one to do it in a +more readable and intuitive way. The interface doesn't make the +techniques described in previous sections obsolete --- they are still +useful to process file uploads efficiently, for example. + +The interface consists of two simple methods. Using the methods +you can process form data in a generic way, without the need to worry +whether only one or more values were posted under one name. + +In the previous section, you learned to write following code anytime +you expected a user to post more than one value under one name: + +\begin{verbatim} +item = form.getvalue("item") +if isinstance(item, list): + # The user is requesting more than one item. +else: + # The user is requesting only one item. +\end{verbatim} + +This situation is common for example when a form contains a group of +multiple checkboxes with the same name: + +\begin{verbatim} +<input type="checkbox" name="item" value="1" /> +<input type="checkbox" name="item" value="2" /> +\end{verbatim} + +In most situations, however, there's only one form control with a +particular name in a form and then you expect and need only one value +associated with this name. So you write a script containing for +example this code: + +\begin{verbatim} +user = form.getvalue("user").upper() +\end{verbatim} + +The problem with the code is that you should never expect that a +client will provide valid input to your scripts. For example, if a +curious user appends another \samp{user=foo} pair to the query string, +then the script would crash, because in this situation the +\code{getvalue("user")} method call returns a list instead of a +string. Calling the \method{toupper()} method on a list is not valid +(since lists do not have a method of this name) and results in an +\exception{AttributeError} exception. + +Therefore, the appropriate way to read form data values was to always +use the code which checks whether the obtained value is a single value +or a list of values. That's annoying and leads to less readable +scripts. + +A more convenient approach is to use the methods \method{getfirst()} +and \method{getlist()} provided by this higher level interface. + +\begin{methoddesc}[FieldStorage]{getfirst}{name\optional{, default}} + This method always returns only one value associated with form field + \var{name}. The method returns only the first value in case that + more values were posted under such name. Please note that the order + in which the values are received may vary from browser to browser + and should not be counted on.\footnote{Note that some recent + versions of the HTML specification do state what order the + field values should be supplied in, but knowing whether a + request was received from a conforming browser, or even from a + browser at all, is tedious and error-prone.} If no such form + field or value exists then the method returns the value specified by + the optional parameter \var{default}. This parameter defaults to + \code{None} if not specified. +\end{methoddesc} + +\begin{methoddesc}[FieldStorage]{getlist}{name} + This method always returns a list of values associated with form + field \var{name}. The method returns an empty list if no such form + field or value exists for \var{name}. It returns a list consisting + of one item if only one such value exists. +\end{methoddesc} + +Using these methods you can write nice compact code: + +\begin{verbatim} +import cgi +form = cgi.FieldStorage() +user = form.getfirst("user", "").upper() # This way it's safe. +for item in form.getlist("item"): + do_something(item) +\end{verbatim} + + +\subsection{Old classes} + +These classes, present in earlier versions of the \module{cgi} module, +are still supported for backward compatibility. New applications +should use the \class{FieldStorage} class. + +\class{SvFormContentDict} stores single value form content as +dictionary; it assumes each field name occurs in the form only once. + +\class{FormContentDict} stores multiple value form content as a +dictionary (the form items are lists of values). Useful if your form +contains multiple fields with the same name. + +Other classes (\class{FormContent}, \class{InterpFormContentDict}) are +present for backwards compatibility with really old applications only. +If you still use these and would be inconvenienced when they +disappeared from a next version of this module, drop me a note. + + +\subsection{Functions} +\nodename{Functions in cgi module} + +These are useful if you want more control, or if you want to employ +some of the algorithms implemented in this module in other +circumstances. + +\begin{funcdesc}{parse}{fp\optional{, keep_blank_values\optional{, + strict_parsing}}} + Parse a query in the environment or from a file (the file defaults + to \code{sys.stdin}). The \var{keep_blank_values} and + \var{strict_parsing} parameters are passed to \function{parse_qs()} + unchanged. +\end{funcdesc} + +\begin{funcdesc}{parse_qs}{qs\optional{, keep_blank_values\optional{, + strict_parsing}}} +Parse a query string given as a string argument (data of type +\mimetype{application/x-www-form-urlencoded}). Data are +returned as a dictionary. The dictionary keys are the unique query +variable names and the values are lists of values for each name. + +The optional argument \var{keep_blank_values} is +a flag indicating whether blank values in +URL encoded queries should be treated as blank strings. +A true value indicates that blanks should be retained as +blank strings. The default false value indicates that +blank values are to be ignored and treated as if they were +not included. + +The optional argument \var{strict_parsing} is a flag indicating what +to do with parsing errors. If false (the default), errors +are silently ignored. If true, errors raise a \exception{ValueError} +exception. + +Use the \function{\refmodule{urllib}.urlencode()} function to convert +such dictionaries into query strings. + +\end{funcdesc} + +\begin{funcdesc}{parse_qsl}{qs\optional{, keep_blank_values\optional{, + strict_parsing}}} +Parse a query string given as a string argument (data of type +\mimetype{application/x-www-form-urlencoded}). Data are +returned as a list of name, value pairs. + +The optional argument \var{keep_blank_values} is +a flag indicating whether blank values in +URL encoded queries should be treated as blank strings. +A true value indicates that blanks should be retained as +blank strings. The default false value indicates that +blank values are to be ignored and treated as if they were +not included. + +The optional argument \var{strict_parsing} is a flag indicating what +to do with parsing errors. If false (the default), errors +are silently ignored. If true, errors raise a \exception{ValueError} +exception. + +Use the \function{\refmodule{urllib}.urlencode()} function to convert +such lists of pairs into query strings. +\end{funcdesc} + +\begin{funcdesc}{parse_multipart}{fp, pdict} +Parse input of type \mimetype{multipart/form-data} (for +file uploads). Arguments are \var{fp} for the input file and +\var{pdict} for a dictionary containing other parameters in +the \mailheader{Content-Type} header. + +Returns a dictionary just like \function{parse_qs()} keys are the +field names, each value is a list of values for that field. This is +easy to use but not much good if you are expecting megabytes to be +uploaded --- in that case, use the \class{FieldStorage} class instead +which is much more flexible. + +Note that this does not parse nested multipart parts --- use +\class{FieldStorage} for that. +\end{funcdesc} + +\begin{funcdesc}{parse_header}{string} +Parse a MIME header (such as \mailheader{Content-Type}) into a main +value and a dictionary of parameters. +\end{funcdesc} + +\begin{funcdesc}{test}{} +Robust test CGI script, usable as main program. +Writes minimal HTTP headers and formats all information provided to +the script in HTML form. +\end{funcdesc} + +\begin{funcdesc}{print_environ}{} +Format the shell environment in HTML. +\end{funcdesc} + +\begin{funcdesc}{print_form}{form} +Format a form in HTML. +\end{funcdesc} + +\begin{funcdesc}{print_directory}{} +Format the current directory in HTML. +\end{funcdesc} + +\begin{funcdesc}{print_environ_usage}{} +Print a list of useful (used by CGI) environment variables in +HTML. +\end{funcdesc} + +\begin{funcdesc}{escape}{s\optional{, quote}} +Convert the characters +\character{\&}, \character{<} and \character{>} in string \var{s} to +HTML-safe sequences. Use this if you need to display text that might +contain such characters in HTML. If the optional flag \var{quote} is +true, the quotation mark character (\character{"}) is also translated; +this helps for inclusion in an HTML attribute value, as in \code{<A +HREF="...">}. If the value to be quoted might include single- or +double-quote characters, or both, consider using the +\function{quoteattr()} function in the \refmodule{xml.sax.saxutils} +module instead. +\end{funcdesc} + + +\subsection{Caring about security \label{cgi-security}} + +\indexii{CGI}{security} + +There's one important rule: if you invoke an external program (via the +\function{os.system()} or \function{os.popen()} functions. or others +with similar functionality), make very sure you don't pass arbitrary +strings received from the client to the shell. This is a well-known +security hole whereby clever hackers anywhere on the Web can exploit a +gullible CGI script to invoke arbitrary shell commands. Even parts of +the URL or field names cannot be trusted, since the request doesn't +have to come from your form! + +To be on the safe side, if you must pass a string gotten from a form +to a shell command, you should make sure the string contains only +alphanumeric characters, dashes, underscores, and periods. + + +\subsection{Installing your CGI script on a \UNIX\ system} + +Read the documentation for your HTTP server and check with your local +system administrator to find the directory where CGI scripts should be +installed; usually this is in a directory \file{cgi-bin} in the server tree. + +Make sure that your script is readable and executable by ``others''; the +\UNIX{} file mode should be \code{0755} octal (use \samp{chmod 0755 +\var{filename}}). Make sure that the first line of the script contains +\code{\#!} starting in column 1 followed by the pathname of the Python +interpreter, for instance: + +\begin{verbatim} +#!/usr/local/bin/python +\end{verbatim} + +Make sure the Python interpreter exists and is executable by ``others''. + +Make sure that any files your script needs to read or write are +readable or writable, respectively, by ``others'' --- their mode +should be \code{0644} for readable and \code{0666} for writable. This +is because, for security reasons, the HTTP server executes your script +as user ``nobody'', without any special privileges. It can only read +(write, execute) files that everybody can read (write, execute). The +current directory at execution time is also different (it is usually +the server's cgi-bin directory) and the set of environment variables +is also different from what you get when you log in. In particular, don't +count on the shell's search path for executables (\envvar{PATH}) or +the Python module search path (\envvar{PYTHONPATH}) to be set to +anything interesting. + +If you need to load modules from a directory which is not on Python's +default module search path, you can change the path in your script, +before importing other modules. For example: + +\begin{verbatim} +import sys +sys.path.insert(0, "/usr/home/joe/lib/python") +sys.path.insert(0, "/usr/local/lib/python") +\end{verbatim} + +(This way, the directory inserted last will be searched first!) + +Instructions for non-\UNIX{} systems will vary; check your HTTP server's +documentation (it will usually have a section on CGI scripts). + + +\subsection{Testing your CGI script} + +Unfortunately, a CGI script will generally not run when you try it +from the command line, and a script that works perfectly from the +command line may fail mysteriously when run from the server. There's +one reason why you should still test your script from the command +line: if it contains a syntax error, the Python interpreter won't +execute it at all, and the HTTP server will most likely send a cryptic +error to the client. + +Assuming your script has no syntax errors, yet it does not work, you +have no choice but to read the next section. + + +\subsection{Debugging CGI scripts} \indexii{CGI}{debugging} + +First of all, check for trivial installation errors --- reading the +section above on installing your CGI script carefully can save you a +lot of time. If you wonder whether you have understood the +installation procedure correctly, try installing a copy of this module +file (\file{cgi.py}) as a CGI script. When invoked as a script, the file +will dump its environment and the contents of the form in HTML form. +Give it the right mode etc, and send it a request. If it's installed +in the standard \file{cgi-bin} directory, it should be possible to send it a +request by entering a URL into your browser of the form: + +\begin{verbatim} +http://yourhostname/cgi-bin/cgi.py?name=Joe+Blow&addr=At+Home +\end{verbatim} + +If this gives an error of type 404, the server cannot find the script +-- perhaps you need to install it in a different directory. If it +gives another error, there's an installation problem that +you should fix before trying to go any further. If you get a nicely +formatted listing of the environment and form content (in this +example, the fields should be listed as ``addr'' with value ``At Home'' +and ``name'' with value ``Joe Blow''), the \file{cgi.py} script has been +installed correctly. If you follow the same procedure for your own +script, you should now be able to debug it. + +The next step could be to call the \module{cgi} module's +\function{test()} function from your script: replace its main code +with the single statement + +\begin{verbatim} +cgi.test() +\end{verbatim} + +This should produce the same results as those gotten from installing +the \file{cgi.py} file itself. + +When an ordinary Python script raises an unhandled exception (for +whatever reason: of a typo in a module name, a file that can't be +opened, etc.), the Python interpreter prints a nice traceback and +exits. While the Python interpreter will still do this when your CGI +script raises an exception, most likely the traceback will end up in +one of the HTTP server's log files, or be discarded altogether. + +Fortunately, once you have managed to get your script to execute +\emph{some} code, you can easily send tracebacks to the Web browser +using the \refmodule{cgitb} module. If you haven't done so already, +just add the line: + +\begin{verbatim} +import cgitb; cgitb.enable() +\end{verbatim} + +to the top of your script. Then try running it again; when a +problem occurs, you should see a detailed report that will +likely make apparent the cause of the crash. + +If you suspect that there may be a problem in importing the +\refmodule{cgitb} module, you can use an even more robust approach +(which only uses built-in modules): + +\begin{verbatim} +import sys +sys.stderr = sys.stdout +print "Content-Type: text/plain" +print +...your code here... +\end{verbatim} + +This relies on the Python interpreter to print the traceback. The +content type of the output is set to plain text, which disables all +HTML processing. If your script works, the raw HTML will be displayed +by your client. If it raises an exception, most likely after the +first two lines have been printed, a traceback will be displayed. +Because no HTML interpretation is going on, the traceback will be +readable. + + +\subsection{Common problems and solutions} + +\begin{itemize} +\item Most HTTP servers buffer the output from CGI scripts until the +script is completed. This means that it is not possible to display a +progress report on the client's display while the script is running. + +\item Check the installation instructions above. + +\item Check the HTTP server's log files. (\samp{tail -f logfile} in a +separate window may be useful!) + +\item Always check a script for syntax errors first, by doing something +like \samp{python script.py}. + +\item If your script does not have any syntax errors, try adding +\samp{import cgitb; cgitb.enable()} to the top of the script. + +\item When invoking external programs, make sure they can be found. +Usually, this means using absolute path names --- \envvar{PATH} is +usually not set to a very useful value in a CGI script. + +\item When reading or writing external files, make sure they can be read +or written by the userid under which your CGI script will be running: +this is typically the userid under which the web server is running, or some +explicitly specified userid for a web server's \samp{suexec} feature. + +\item Don't try to give a CGI script a set-uid mode. This doesn't work on +most systems, and is a security liability as well. +\end{itemize} + |