CGI Script problems

[tm1274]

For some reason when I index my site, then upload the files, my search.cgi will not work. No matter what I do I cannot get it to work properly. The PHP version works but I would rather have the CGI version since I am more familiar with it. The one really strange thing that I have noticed is that the CGI script looks corrupt, can someone help me figure this out?

[David]

CGI is not a script. CGI is an interface definition. (Common Gateway Interface).

You can read about what CGI is here,
http://hoohoo.ncsa.uiuc.edu/cgi/intro.html

The Zoom CGI is not corrupt. It is a a compiled binary file, written in C++ for speed.

Many people are confused about what CGI is, how it works, and what is required on a server to support it. This is why we suggest using PHP or ASP for small / medium sized sites becuase (as you have found out) they are easier to get running.

If you still want to get the CGI option in Zoom going then have a look at these common CGI problems and solutions.

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David

[tm1274]

I understand what you are saying now however, shouldn't I be able to call the script like this: www.mysite.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi? Also, I do not see if the script shoould be in the cgi-bin. Generally I have to place that "script" in the cgi-bin for it to work properly and to keep anyone from modifing it. Do you have a tutorial on how to make the cgi version work, my web server is freebsd?

[David]

Yes, if your server configuration and file permissions are set up correctly you can call the CGI like you suggested.

Here is an example on our site,
http://www.wrensoft.com/cgi-bin/wikipedia/search.cgi

If just putting it in the CGI-BIN directory doesn't work, then you need to have a look at the error message you get and then find the appropriate solution here.
http://www.wrensoft.com/zoom/support/faq_cgi.html

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David

[tm1274]

This is the error I am getting:
"Unable to open settings.zdat or file is invalid.
Check file permissions and that file exists"

I have the:
settings.zdat
zoom_descriptions.zdat
zoom_pages.zdat
zoom_spelling.zdat
zoom_wordmap.zdat
zoom_datetime.zdat
zoom_dictionary.zdat
zoom_pagetext.zdat
zoom_titles.zdat
search_template.html

All in the public_html/search folder and all have permissions set to 755

The search.cgi is in the cgi-bin also with the permision set to 755

Any ideas?

[David]

The error ""Unable to open settings.zdat" means the search.cgi script is unable to open the settings.zdat file.

All the search files need to be placed together in the same directory. You can't spread them about the file system and hope it is going to work.

If you use the FTP function built into Zoom, it automatically uploads all the required files to the same directory.

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David

[tm1274]

All of the files are in the same directory and were placed in the same directory. The only file that was moved was the search.cgi and it was placed within the cgi-bin. There is really no reason it should not work, any other ideas?

[Anonymous]

When Wrensoft says that they must ALL be in the same directory, they mean exactly that. If you can only run the cgi from the bin directory, you must also upload the data files to the bin directory. This is because the cgi file is not handed the location of the data files and expects to find them locally. If you let the Zoom indexer do the uploading, it puts them all in a single directory for you.
-Gabe Fineman
Washington, DC