Problems running perl script?!?!

Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I created my web page in April (on my Mac of course!) and had NO PROBLEMS. I visited it yesterday and am getting a 500 error when trying to execute a perl FormMail script (other perl scripts work fine). We tested it on a total of 4 computers: 2 PCs and 2 Macs, and only the Macs had the problem. I HAVE NOT MADE ANY CHANGES to the web site since April, when it was working. What on

earth would the Macs have a problem with that the PCs don't? And why would it just show up now? HELP!!!!!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    [quote]Originally posted by dremmers:

    <strong>I created my web page in April (on my Mac of course!) and had NO PROBLEMS. I visited it yesterday and am getting a 500 error when trying to execute a perl FormMail script (other perl scripts work fine). We tested it on a total of 4 computers: 2 PCs and 2 Macs, and only the Macs had the problem. I HAVE NOT MADE ANY CHANGES to the web site since April, when it was working. What on

    earth would the Macs have a problem with that the PCs don't? And why would it just show up now? HELP!!!!!</strong><hr></blockquote>



    If I am understanding this correctly, this is a script you are running ON each of the machines, and it runs on the PCs but not the Macs?



    Check the perl script to make sure the Perl script references where perl is. In Terminal, type "which perl" and make sure that the script's first line is:



    #!(what which perl outputted)



    ex



    #!/usr/bin/perl



    If this doesn't work, check references to any files (hard links) in the program, and use the perl debugger (perl -d) to find any errors.



    If you mean that the script is on a server and only Mac-based web clients can't access it...that's odd...I seem to remember it happening to us once, but I can't remember the solution.



    Hope this is any help.
  • Reply 2 of 6
    If I am understanding this correctly, this is a script you are running ON each of the machines, and it runs on the PCs but not the Macs?



    Check the perl script to make sure the Perl script references where perl is. In Terminal, type "which perl" and make sure that the script's first line is:



    #!(what which perl outputted)



    ex



    #!/usr/bin/perl



    If this doesn't work, check references to any files (hard links) in the program, and use the perl debugger (perl -d) to find any errors.



    [EDIT:] Also check to see that if you make any calls to sendmail, or a similar program (you said it was formmail) that you actually have these programs installed.



    If you mean that the script is on a server and only Mac-based web clients can't access it...that's odd...I seem to remember it happening to us once, but I can't remember the solution.



    Hope this is any help.



    PS--sorry for the similar double-post....I'm an idiot who hit Reply instead of Edit.....this latest one is the real one (see EDIT)



    [ 07-03-2002: Message edited by: The All Knowing 1 ]</p>
  • Reply 3 of 6
    dremmersdremmers Posts: 5member
    Unfortunately, the latter is correct. The script is actually on a Unix server. The pc web browsers do not have a problem. The mac web browsers do.



    So it's odd, huh? When you say you remember having the problem before, does that mean I should be able to find it in archives somewhere, or do you just mean that it happened in your personal past?



    THANKS!!!!



    P.S. Would you mind terribly checking it out on YOUR Mac and letting me know if you get the same error? That would be fab. Just go to:

    <a href="http://www.mylifestory.org/questions/000019.html/"; target="_blank">http://www.mylifestory.org/questions/000019.html/</a>;

    Click the Add to My Book checkbox (you don't need to fill out anything else) and click Process. Thanks!
  • Reply 4 of 6
    [quote]Originally posted by dremmers:

    <strong>Unfortunately, the latter is correct. The script is actually on a Unix server. The pc web browsers do not have a problem. The mac web browsers do.



    So it's odd, huh? When you say you remember having the problem before, does that mean I should be able to find it in archives somewhere, or do you just mean that it happened in your personal past?



    THANKS!!!!



    P.S. Would you mind terribly checking it out on YOUR Mac and letting me know if you get the same error? That would be fab. Just go to:

    <a href="http://www.mylifestory.org/questions/000019.html/"; target="_blank">http://www.mylifestory.org/questions/000019.html/</a>;

    Click the Add to My Book checkbox (you don't need to fill out anything else) and click Process. Thanks!</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Hey there,



    I meant it was in my personal past--a lot of weird things can come up when programming Perl, and most of them can be resolved by simple tweaking of the code.



    I tried out your page on my Mac, a Powerbook 667 running Mac OS X 10.1.5 (5S66 build) and it worked perfectly fine...no 500 error.



    I tried it in IE 5.2 and Mozilla 1.0 (let me know if you want me to try another browser--I have most of them) and I went to the page and did as you said...clicked Add to my book and clicked Process, and was given an output page of "My Story" which contained "the story I wrote" but since I entered nothing, it was empty in the right places. I tried again with real data in the story fields and it again worked fine. It sounds like your problem is not in the Perl, but in your Mac configurations. What machines are they? What OS/browser, etc? As much info as possible will lead to a easier solution
  • Reply 5 of 6
    So geniuses DO hang out at the Genius Bar. Woo hoo!



    Turns out the Macs were all running Netscape...the PCs weren't. I tried IE on my computer and sure enough, it worked just fine.



    Now, of course, the question still remains as to why it all of a sudden stopped working. I have not changed any settings in my Netscape. But, I suppose that is a subject for another forum.



    THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!
  • Reply 6 of 6
    [quote]Originally posted by dremmers:

    <strong>So geniuses DO hang out at the Genius Bar. Woo hoo!



    Turns out the Macs were all running Netscape...the PCs weren't. I tried IE on my computer and sure enough, it worked just fine.



    Now, of course, the question still remains as to why it all of a sudden stopped working. I have not changed any settings in my Netscape. But, I suppose that is a subject for another forum.



    THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! </strong><hr></blockquote>



    FANTASTIC!



    If the Macs are running OS 9 and Netscape 4.7x then that is your problem...the technology on that browser is seriously lacking.



    If they are running OS X with Netscape 6 + then I don't know what's with it...I'd try out Mozilla 1.0 (www.mozilla.org) as its a nicer "version" of Netscape. It's become my browser of choice lately.



    Again I'm glad it all worked out (on your machine anyway) and feel free to private msg me in the future about such things--I'd be glad to help. I'll send you a message to alert you to this final post.
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