Perl and Apache: Your visual blueprint for developing dynamic Web content

Chapter 11. INTRODUCING DO-IT-YOURSELF PERL/CGI INTERACTION

Create an HTML Form

An HTML form collects information from a user by way of his browser, and relays that information to a Web server. Along with standard HTML formatting, an HTML form's syntax defines the input fields that can be populated, any predefined values, the buttons to submit the form, and the URL of the script accepting the form's data. To make this form useful, you need a CGI component at the other end of that URL which accepts the submitted data, interprets the data, reports any errors, and moves the user onto the next page according to the site's workflow.

An HTML form always begins with a form tag. This instructs the browser that an HTML form is beginning, and tells it the ...