Passing a parameter

[Dale F.]

Here's a bit of HTML that attempts to call an executable and pass a parameter:

<form method="POST" action="http://11.22.33.444/MyFolder/MyEXE.exe/Begin">

The executable is MyEXE.exe and the parameter is "Begin". Unfortunately my
browser (IE 6) doesn't recognize this statement. It will find the EXE if the
parameter is left off... but then the EXE doesn't work properly.

Is there a better way to pass this parameter to the executable? (I don't
think I can call a server-side script to call the EXE because the EXE returns
an HTML response to whatever calls it.)

Thanks,

 

[Dale F.]

Instead of:

<form method="POST" action="http://11.22.33.444/MyFolder/MyEXE.exe/Begin">

I tried the following with a "?":

<form method="POST" action="http://11.22.33.444/MyFolder/MyEXE.exe?Begin">

and I tried the following with a "?Cmd=":

<form method="POST" action="http://11.22.33.444/MyFolder/MyEXE.exe?Cmd=Begin">

With both these attempts my browser was confused and prompted me to save
MyEXE of unknown file type! My intent, of course, was to run the file and
pass the parameter to it. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Dale F.

 

[Ronx]

The standard in HTML is to pass parameters in a querystring, as in:

<form method="POST" action="http://11.22.33.444/MyFolder/MyEXE.exe?Begin">

Your .exe would have to understand it.

 

[Dale F.]

Thanks,

My EXE is not the issue. It's my browser (IE 6) that doesn't understand.
It brings up a security dialog asking if I want to save MyEXE. It should
*OPEN* or *RUN* the execuatable, rather than prompt to save it. Any ideas
why this is happening and how I can fix it?

 

[Ronx]

The server must be set up to run executable files from the folder. Most are
set not to.
For a website hosted on IIS the folder must be marked as executable.

 

[Dale F.]

The server is an Apache server. Any idea how to configure this folder or
server to recognize an HTML call to an executable? Or, do you know of a good
web reference to explore this issue?

Thanks,

Dale F.

 

[Steve Easton]

On an apache server the executable needs to be in the cgi-sys folder,

<form action="/cgi-sys/MyEXE.exe?Begin">

or cgi-bin

<form action="/cgi-bin/MyEXE.exe?Begin">

http:// is *not* used to call the file


--
Steve Easton
Microsoft MVP FrontPage
95isalive
This site is best viewed............
........................with a computer

 

[Dale F.]

Yes! Thank you.

I think we are getting closer to a resolution.

I moved the executable to the cgi-bin folder but I am still getting a "page
cannot be found" error. Here is the revised HTML code:

<form method="POST" action="http://11.22.33.444/../cgi-bin/MyEXE.exe?Begin">

This seems right because the default POST looks to a folder on the same
level as cgi-bin (..\htdocs). Hence the "/../". But it ain't workin.

I also tried "/cgi-bin/MyEXE.exe?Begin" and

"../cgi-bin/MyEXE.exe?Begin", but neither one worked. Both returned "page
not found".

Any ideas? Thanks,

Dale F.

 

[Steve Easton]

Also, if your exe is a windows executable, it won't run on an Apache if the Apache is running UNIX.

--
Steve Easton
Microsoft MVP FrontPage
95isalive
This site is best viewed............
........................with a computer

 

[Ronx]

AFAIK, on the server the httpd.conf file should have the folder or its
parent listed in the script alias section. The httpd.conf file is often
located at /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf

More information should be available at http://www.apache.org

 

[Dale F.]

Thanks...

Are you suggesting that the httpd.conf file can be modified so that
executables are recognized in HTML calls? On a separate issue, I can find no
Apache support or Apache newsgroup. This makes sense, I guess, since the
Apache downloads are free.

Dale F.

 

[Steve Easton]

Try www.rtr.com they're the folks who write the UNIX versions of the FrontPage extensions.

Once again though, if it's a windows executable, it will not run on Apache / UNIX

--
Steve Easton
Microsoft MVP FrontPage
95isalive
This site is best viewed............
........................with a computer

 

[Ronx]

On the Apache website after a 1 minute search through the links on the home
page:

http://httpd.apache.org/docs-project/
http://httpd.apache.org/userslist.html

In newsgroups, there is alt.apache.configuration which you can access
through your ISPs news-server, or (probably) through Google-groups.