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6. Server-side Executable Programs

HTTP servers usually have a facility whereby programs or scripts resident on the server can be accessed by a remote browser. Such server-side executable programs or scripts are generally placed in a directory known as the cgi-bin/ directory. This is named after the Common Gateway Interface protocol that is used to define how scripts can act as gateways between browsers and the server machine.

The specifics of how these features depends greatly on the server you are using. The following documents are written with an eye towards the NCSA family of servers. If you are using another server (CERN/Plexus/etc) the general ideas should still hold, but the detail will be different. Consult your server documentation!

There are four sections to the server-side section:

  1. ISINDEX Searches
  2. ISMAP Imagemap (active image maps)
  3. cgi-bin scripts discussion
  4. Server-Side includes (NCSA server only)

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