The AppleScript in this folder (named 'PortCGI.acgi') is meant as a very simple demonstration of connecting Portfolio 4.0 with a web server. It has been tested with WebStar 2.0 and MacOS 8.5's Personal Web Sharing, and it should be compatible with most Mac web servers. The basic operation is simple; a one clause request is passed from the user's web browser to the web server, which then launches this script. The script simply tells Portfolio to search a particular catalog for the criteria the user chose, and then uses Portfolio's Export HTML command to generate web pages containing the results.
Setup:
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Before using the script, the following steps need to be taken:
1. Setup the web server. Setup varies based on which server you are using, so consult the
instructions that came with the server.
2. Install the Parse CGI scripting addition. This script uses Parse CGI to handle the data coming in from the Web server. Parse CGI is shareware and can be downloaded at:
http://www.tr.org/software/home.html
[Note that if you decide to use Parse CGI as part of your web solution, you will need to pay the shareware license fee. For more information, contact the developers at the URL listed above.]
3. Modify the script for your environment. The script has several paths hardcoded into it as properties. The four which usually need to be changed are listed below.
-- Portfolio properties
property dirPortCat : "Macintosh HD:Test Files:Cat5.fdb" -- Location of the Portfolio catalog to search.
property dirWebStar : "Macintosh HD:Web Pages:PortHTML:" -- Directory where the Exported HTML pages will be stored.
property dirURL : "PortHTML/" -- Relative path (using slashes) from this script to the directory in dirWebStar
property maxResults : 120 -- The maximum number of records we want to return.
The first two paths are full Mac paths which point to the location of the catalog and the location where the outputted HTML pages should be stored. Most web servers require that any files being output be contained within the web server's folder. If this is the case in your situation, make sure the dirWebStar path is within the domain of your web server.
The third path is a relative HTML path between the script and the output folder (dirWebStar). This is used by the script to direct the server to the new HTML files. In the example above, PortCGI.acgi is at the root of the web directory (Macintosh HD:Web Pages:) and the output is in a subdirectory (Macintosh HD:Web Pages:PortHTML:). Therefore, the path from the script to the HTML files is simply "PortHTML/". Note that web delimiters (forward slashes) need to be used in this setting.
The fourth property is the maximum number of results that should be returned. This is important, because Portfolio will generate all the HTML pages using Export HTML before returning control to the web server. As a result, a find on a large catalog could result in excessive delays for the web user. (For example, if a find yields 4000 results, and the HTML layout generates a grid with 20 thumbnails per page, Portfolio will generate 200 HTML pages and 4000 thumbnail files before returning any results to the web server).
Save the script, making sure to save it as an Application with no Startup screen and the Stay Open checkbox checked.
Operation:
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Once the script is configured, it simply needs to be put in your web directory, along with the sample search page (PortCGIDemo.html). Assuming the paths are properly configured, the script should be activated every time the Submit button is clicked on the demo page.
Troubleshooting:
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The most common problems encountered are due to incorrect setup:
- Verify that the Parse CGI addition is in your Scripting Additions folder.
- Verify that the paths set in the script match the paths on the hard drive.
- Verify that the web server has access to these paths and that there are no access limitations in your web server software (such as user access blocking or firewalls).
