JavaScript Application Cookbook

The Server Side

Like the Shopping Cart application in Chapter 8, this application requires some type of server-side mechanism. The greetings the user creates are generated using JavaScript on the client side. This information is then sent back to the web server to a script in an application-serving environment, such as Active Server Pages, Server-side JavaScript, or Cold Fusion.

This script environment will read the information that the user submitted, then create a unique file and write the greeting code inside it. The unique filename is the same one sent in the email message to the recipient. The file will be ready and waiting when the recipient follows the link in his or her email message.

After that, the script will print a response to the greeting sender to confirm that all is well, and more importantly, to prepare a ready-made HTML form that the creator submits to send email to the recipient.

Now, I realize you picked up this book for JavaScript, but the script I’ve provided is written in Perl and is short and sweet. Besides, Perl is a relatively easy and powerful language and is quickly becoming the WinNT scripting language of choice. See Appendix C, for more information on setting up Perl to run the scripts and an explanation of how the two Perl scripts for the applications of this book work.