MTVWebdesign Arch - mailing list manager v2.0

For the latest version of the script, click here.
Thank you for your interest in the MTVWebdesign mailing list manager. Please notice the copyright notice in the arch.cgi file.

You should be very careful handling CGI files. If you type something wrong, it might be that the script will fail. We take good care of our scripts and all the script we place on the internet are tested. They work for us. If they don't work for you you'll see an error in the browser, sometimes with a detailed message. Read more about such problems by clicking here.
If you are not an experienced perl programmer, we advice you not to edit the code. (Except the things you need to change as described in "Getting the script to work". If you want to become a perl programmer, we advice you to look over as much scripts as you possibly can. This script included! Make sure you keep a copy of the script before you start changing things. Get to know certain routines etc., and visit sites like the MTVWebdesign Perl section, CGI-Resources.com (A lot of scripts and tutorials), Scriptsearch.com and Developer Daily. Also, we advice you too read messages in cgi-newsgroups.
Good luck!

I will try to give as much information as possible about the use of this script. Hope you understand it all. If not, you can always email me at cgi@mtvwebdesign.hypermart.net.


Features
What's new?
Downloading the script
Requirements
Getting the script to work
Demo of the script
Known problems
FAQ
About MTVWebdesign open source
Disclaimer

Features

You'll find more information about some of the features in the rest of this page.

Back to top


What's new?

Version 2.0: Version 1.1: Version 1.0

Downloading the script

Note: All scripts come in .ZIP format.

Go to http://mtvwebdesign.hypermart.net/scripts/ for the latest version

Back to top


Requirements

You need a server which allows you to execute Perl scripts. (CGI access).
You need a server which allows you to create directories. (Shouldn't be a problem).
Your server needs to have the CGI::Carp module installed. See FAQ's below on how to stop using the CGI::Carp module when you encounter problems.

You need a Cookie capable browser.

The script is tested with success on the following system(s):
Pentium 133Mhz (32 Mb RAM), Apache 1.3.4 and Sambar Perl 5 (ActiveState) build 509 (January 4th 1999), Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0.

Back to top


Getting the script to work.

Changes in the CGI files

Changes in the dbUnderPath.lib file

When you open the dbUnderPath.lib file, you see the following line:
sub dbdir_ { return "c:/sambar/databases/"; }
You need to change this line to match your directory where you want to store the Arch database. Please note that if you already have a dbUnderPath.lib file on your system, you don't need a second lib. Just make sure that the scripts point to the lib you have on your system.

Changes in the arch.conf file

Uploading the files

First: Be sure to have the directory read where you want to place your CGI script. Make sure this directory is CHMOD 777. Than create a second directory where you want the databases to be placed. (Specified in the config file under $db_dir.). Make sure this directory is also CHMOD 777. See the FAQ for more information about CHMOD

UPLOAD IN ASCII FORMAT!

  1. arch.cgi
    Upload this file to the place specified in $script_location. CHMOD the file 755.
  2. add.cgi
    Upload this file to the place specified in $add_script. CHMOD the file 755.
  3. remove.cgi
    Upload this file to the place specified in $remove_script. CHMOD the file 755.
  4. admin.cgi
    Upload this file to the same directory as arch.cgi. CHMOD the file 755.
  5. arch.conf
    Upload this file to the place specified in each .cgi file under "require". CHMOD 777.
  6. mtvwebdesign.lib
    Upload this file to the place specified in $mtvwebdesignlib. CHMOD the file 777.
  7. dbUnderPath.lib
    Upload this file to the place specified in $dbunderpath. CHMOD the file 777.
  8. dbUnder.lib
    Upload this file to the place specified in $dbunder. CHMOD the file 777.

    TIP: Store your library files in a different directory, so you can use them with other scripts too!

  9. tokenfile.html
    Upload this file to the place specified in $tokefile. CHMOD 644. (Just upload.)

How to use the webmaster function

This is really easy. Just type the URL to the admin script in your Location bar of the browser, and you'll get the login page for the admin script. Enter your password specified under $webmasterpass. Press the submit button. You'll get to the webmaster page.

Because it's not very safe to set a password as plain text in a text file, we created an option on the webmaster main page to change that. You'll see it when you get there. USE IT!

Back to top


Demo of the script

I'm sorry, but there is no working demo of this script right now.

Back to top


Known problems

No problems on my computer and server.

Back to top


FAQ

What is CHMOD?
CHMOD is changing the attributes of a file. (UNIX systems only.). You should do that when you have uploaded the file, or create a new directory. Most FTP clients (like WS_FTP and BulletProofFTP) have the feature, only they call it CHANGE ATTRIBUTES and won't really show number but instead they show READABLE, WRITEBLE and EXECUTABLE. You can find out what you need to do by using this:

BinaryDecimal
000 = 0
001 = 1
010 = 2
011 = 3
100 = 4
101 = 5
110 = 6
111 = 7

r = readable
w = writeble
x = executable

So to set the permission above, "rw-r--r-x", on the file "test.txt," you would figure out the decimal first:
rw- r-- r-x =
110 100 101 =
6 4 5

I get a 501 Internal server error. What should I do?
Well, you have a problem there....
What you should do first is checking if you uploaded the CGI file in ASCII format and not in BINARY format.
If that doesn't work, check if all the permissions (CHMOD) are set right.
If that doesn't work, check the server error log. Ask your webmaster for more information

I cannot use CGI::Carp, how do I disable CGI::Carp?
The CGI::Carp modules may come in very handy when you are a beginner with Perl, since it outputs error messages to the browser instead of to the server error log. Anyway, to stop using the CGI::Carp module, open all the .cgi files, and find this line:
use CGI::Carp qw(fatalsToBrowser);
You need to comment this line, by placing a "#" in front of the line, so it'll look like this:
#use CGI::Carp qw(fatalsToBrowser);
or you can delete the line. The script won't use the module now.

What does "premature end of script headers mean"?
You probably uploaded the file in BINARY format. This should be ASCII format.
If that doesn't work, you should check the things you have changed in the script:
Is there a ";" at the end of lines? Are there any missing quotes (")? Etceteras.

How do I use a tokenfile?
First, take a look in the source of tokenfile.html. This is a page which has a tag in the source, which you cannot see when you view it in the browser. The tag is <!-- TOKEN --> (specified in setup.txt at $token). When you select that you want to use a template, Chat with me! will look for the $tokenfile (tokenfile.html) and that it 'll search for the $token. If it finds the token (WHICH NEEDS TO BE PLACE ON A SEPARATE LINE IN THE SOURCE OF THE HTML DOCUMENT!), it'll print it's output at that spot in the html document. This way you get your own nice layout for the Chat with me! service!
TIP: Try to use STYLE tags in the $tokenfile!

Back to top


About MTVWebdesign open source.

MTVWebdesign open source means that if you make a change to the script which you think makes the script run even better, we would like you to sent the change to us. This way, we can keep providing better and better scripts. Your help is very important.

We particularly point out our use of the English language. Since English is not our first language, we cannot make sure that there a no misspellings in the code.

If your made a change which you think makes the script run better, please email the change (script) to opensource@mtvwebdesign.hypermart.net

Back to top


Disclaimer

By using this code you agree to indemnify Maarten Veerman and MTVWebdesign from any liability that might arise from its use.
MTVWebdesign is not responsible for improper use of this script.
Copyright © MTVWebdesign 2000. Selling the code is prohibited.

Back to top


Copyright © MTVWebdesign scripts 2000.