Form for IT project submission

[matauri]

Doin a favour for a friend here.....

She needs a form to create an electronic form for IT projects that can be submitted online. At moment she uses a cgi one, but she isn't sure if her clients server supports cgi...so she wants to know what else there may be available. (and it cant be a difficult one)

It is an educational facility in the US, so it might have to be 508 compliant.


Thanks guys :-)


Cindy

[carbonize]

The accessibility things not a problem but if a server doesn't support cgi scripts it's not likely to support any serverside scripting. Try http://www.hotscripts.com which is where I get my scripts from when I don't want to bully Sean into making me one.

[Narasinha]

It is an educational facility in the US, so it might have to be 508 compliant.

Like carbonize mentioned, 508 compliance is very simple. The requirements are almost nothing compared to WAI level AAA standards.

Does she want to email the contents of the form to an address, or does she want to store them on the server for later retrieval? What level of server-side support will be the deciding factor. Most admins don't like people making their own CGI scripts, and they supply canned scripts for contact forms, etc. Either emailing or storage of the submitted info wouldn't be a problem.

[matauri]

She wants the info so that what is submitted to come in a form that can be eaisly dumped into a data base.



Cindy

[Narasinha]

She wants the info so that what is submitted to come in a form that can be eaisly dumped into a data base.

That shouldn't be too hard. You can use CGI to put the information into a flat-file database, or I'm sure you could do it with PHP and mySQL (if they're available on the server). My stats program keeps its log files as flat-file data. Each record is one line in a text file. It's usually not too hard to put the data in a character-delimited text file, each field separated by a "~", for instance. You can import text files like this into MS Excel or MS Access quite easily.

[Elleth]

Thanks for posting this question for me Mat!

I've used a CGI script for a forms processor from this site before:
http://www.bignosebird.com/

It's easy to configure, and according to the readme file, it will send the data to a file for import into a database program.

I'm about to see if I can get it to work.

Thanks again!

[matauri]

Glad to see you joined our community Elleth :-)

There's some pretty smart minds here at work, who are always helpful with advice.

Thanks for the above info guys! As you can see Elleth is the friend I was enquiring for.


Cindy

[Elleth]

New Problem...

This script requires a Perl.exe file on the server and the server admin has no idea how to install one!

Any suggestions?

[Narasinha]

Hello Elleth, welcome aboard!

This script requires a Perl.exe file on the server and the server admin has no idea how to install one!
Yes, Perl definitely needs to be available on the webserver. What type of server is it? If it's a Unix/Linux operating system, it will probably be running the Apache webserver. If it's a Windows NT or Windows 2000 operating system, it's probably running IIS (Internet Information Server) from Microsoft. The server admin should take a look at The Perl Directory (http://www.perl.org/) to find the version needed for the server and download the proper files.

Best Regards,
Narasinha

[carju1]

Does the server have front page extensions on it? If so I find it really easy to use FP to build the form (easier than hand coding in this case), dump the results into a text file comma seperated (OK I always dump it into 2 files to have a backup). Grab the flat file as needed and import locally into Access.

I've run loads of competitions for Nissan that way where users predict finishing positions etc and internally most of the employee surveys were done that way.

The decieding factor will be what is the server, what's it running and what can it run?

Julian

[carbonize]

Thanks for the above info guys! As you can see Elleth is the friend I was enquiring for.

Cindy

I can't believe that. Having a friend would mean leaving the comfort of the computer seat and actually going out to meet them. Scary thought, gonna have nightmares over that one.

Ok on a different matter or rather the matter to hand. Find out what the server will run in regards to serverside scripting. I'll guess that if it's a proper host, rather than some company hosting themselves, it will have perl and PHP in which case I'm sure some kind, bored, person in here could rustle you up a simple script to have the results emailed to you in your desired formatting and then forward the visitors to any page you want.

[cyanide]

I concur with carbonize,
More info on this server is required.
Maybe a link to the page / domain as well

[matauri]

I can't believe that. Having a friend would mean leaving the comfort of the computer seat and actually going out to meet them. Scary thought, gonna have nightmares over that one.

Dont get too excited Carbonize, Elleth & I actually met online about 8yrs ago..but I did holiday with her a couple of yrs back :-)




Cindy

[Elleth]

Yes, Dear Cindy and I go way back. Cant believe it's been 8 years!

Back to Server Issues, the server will run Perl, but hasn't been installed, the server admin has a concern with regards to security using Perl Scripting. Does he have a valid concern?

[dealercrm]

Yes, Dear Cindy and I go way back. Cant believe it's been 8 years!

Back to Server Issues, the server will run Perl, but hasn't been installed, the server admin has a concern with regards to security using Perl Scripting. Does he have a valid concern?

If he is a beginner admin, yes he has a concern.

Anyways lets get your problem solved. What is the current IP or domain of your server so all of us can ping it for what kind of server and various scripting is on it.

Most virtual web hosting accounts provide you with a shared cgi-bin, secure cgi-bin, php, asp, cold fusion or whatever kind of scripting is within their offerings.

If you can run php and/or perl I would be happy to be a bored old sole and give a way a simple email/data recorder script gift to a fellow member. Plus seeing that it is for education, giving can't hurt they need all they can get.

[TrafficProducer]

She needs a form to create an electronic form for IT projects that can be submitted online. At moment she uses a cgi one, but she isn't sure if her clients server supports cgi...so she wants to know what else there may be available. (and it cant be a difficult one)

Maybe you could have a link that points to a host which you know supports CGI.

[DbDHost]

Hello,

Have a look at (mod edit: no advertising / self-promotion, please)

[brandblast]

Elleth,

A host that won't provide you with perl may give you many more headaches down the road, perhaps you should consider switching to a host who will provide you with all the features you require.

It may become very difficult for you grow with such limitations.