However, for purposes of demonstration,
in this part we will show an example of writing a CGI
script in Perl 5, using the DBI (Database Independent Interface)
module supplied for free with the normal Perl 5 distribution.
As an example, our DBI-aware Perl 5 CGI Script will be used to access an MS Access
Database on a Windows 95 system using a local web server called Sambar.
Of course, as we will see in just a bit,
the fact that we use Perl 5 and the
DBI module means, that the code we develop here will work
on UNIX, NT or Macintosh without any modifications.
It will also work "out of the box"
for most commercial and public domain databases
available for the web including Oracle, Sybase, Informix, Postgres,
DB2, etc.
Finally, you should know that you need
not use Sambar as your Web Server. Any Web Server that can
handle CGI will do. I am just using Sambar because it is free and
it is what I happened to download. In retrospect, I would
probably recommend Apache since it is available on so many
platforms.
In short, the beauty of Perl and of the
DBI module is that they are both designed to be highly cross
platform and non-proprietary.
(Note that since you are a web developer,
I am assuming that you already know Perl 5 for CGI. If you don't,
or if you need a refresher, check out
Web
Ware at WDVL! The e-zine has tutorials on Perl and Perl 5
for web developers.)
