Version Master CGI works with TeleFinder! The only thing you need to change is noted. When calling the exec command you use exec file instead of exec script. It must be an .spml page.
Version Master CGI - Freeware
© 1999 Symmetry Software Corporation.
This document provides a brief overview of the Version Master CGI. Also included are basic installation and configuration instructions. We also have a Perl version which runs with MacPerl and Perl for Win32. Please contact us if you need the Perl version.
Version Master CGI allows webmasters to display, in real time, a list of the latest Macintosh software updates, their version numbers, and a link to the manufacturer's home page. To get the latest data, the CGI connects to the world's largest database of Macintosh software update information containing over 50,000 titles. The data may be formatted in several different ways (tables, ordered and unordered lists) and can include or exclude the URLs to the software sites and the date of the update.
Version Master CGI requires the webmaster to implement their html page as a Server Side Include (SSI). Within the page, you place a simple command like the following:
<!--#exec script="/VersionMasterCGI.acgi?style=table&border=yes&count=5&country=14" -->
This would display a table with borders and 5 rows of software listings from Japan.
Version Master CGI is freeware and may be used and freely distributed. Version Master CGI is copyrighted and may not be sold or included with any other software collection (CD ROMs, etc.) without written permission. The output of the CGI may not be customized beyond the options described in this document.
Version Master CGI requires Mac OS System 7, Open Transport v1.1 or MacTCP v2.0.6, AppleScript and the Thread Manager. If you are using System 8, all these are already present. Your computer must have a full TCP/IP connection to the Internet so Version Master CGI can connect to the master server containing the database of software titles.
Version Master CGI works with WebSTAR (2.x or 3.x) or Quid Quo Pro 2. It should work with any other server which supports the SSI command "#exec".
Version Master CGI requires 1 MB of application memory.
1. Select the location for the VersionMasterCGI.acgi program.
To install Version Master CGI on your computer, place it in a location where CGI applications are allowed to run on your server. Often, this is a folder named "cgi-bin" inside the folder containing your server. You may need to set a configuration option to allow CGI's to run. Check the documentation for your particular server.
2. Configure your server to support Server Side Includes.
For TeleFinder, no special setup is required. All that is necessary is to name the html file which will use Version Master CGI with a ".spml" suffix. Nothing else is required.
For Quid Quo Pro, no special setup is required for Server Side Includes. All that is necessary is to name the html file which will use Version Master CGI with a ".shtml" suffix. Nothing else is required. For example, "mypage.shtml". You may use a different suffix for SSI pages by creating a new suffix mapping in the Server Settings dialog.
For WebSTAR, the SSI Plug-In must be installed (it is installed by default). However, also by default, #exec commands are disabled. To enable them, you must configure the SSI Plug-In to allow the #exec command to work. For WebSTAR 3.x, start the WebSTAR Admin program and bring up the Server Settings dialog. Click on the SSI option and click either the "Allow unrestricted use of commands" or "Restrict use of commands to /CGI-BIN/SSI/".
For WebSTAR 2.x, you must connect to the WebSTAR Admin Web Interface. Connect to the URL: http://your.server.com/pi_admin.admin and then go to the Plug-In Administrative area and finally to the SSI Plug-In. Click either the "Allow unrestricted use of commands" or "Restrict use of commands to /CGI-BIN/SSI/".
The last step for WebSTAR is to name the html file which will use Version Master CGI with a ".ssi" suffix or create a new suffix mapping which uses SSI.
You may place the SSI command anywhere in your html page. The basic command looks like the following:
For TeleFinder: <!--#exec file="/xxxxx?yyyyy" -->
For WebSTAR: <!--#exec script="/xxxxx?yyyyy" -->
For Quid Quo Pro: <!--#exec virtual="/xxxxx?yyyyy" -->
where xxxxx is the directory location of the Version Master CGI and yyyyy are the optional display parameters you want. Please note that Quid Quo Pro uses the keyword "virtual" and WebSTAR uses the keyword "script" and TeleFinder uses the keyword "file".
An example for the directory location is:
<!--#exec file="/cgi-bin/VersionMasterCGI.acgi" -->
The VersionMasterCGI.acgi file would need to be in a folder named "cgi-bin" which is inside the root folder of your web site.
An example for the display parameters is:
<!--#exec file="/cgi-bin/VersionMasterCGI.acgi?style=ordered&datestyle=usa&url=yes" -->
Note that a question mark"?" must separate the directory location from the display parameters and that the display parameters are separated from one another by ampersands "&".
All display parameters are in the form of PARAM=VALUE. Here is the complete list of display parameters followed by a detailed description of how to use them:
count
style
border
url
datestyle
century
name_hdr
version_hdr
date_hdr
fontsize
fontcolor
align
bgcolor
country
Special Note: Quid Quo Pro 2.1 doesn't like spaces in the string following the "#exec virtual" directive. So when you are adding parameters and values, don't add a parameter like "name_hdr=Software Title". WebSTAR doesn't have any problems with spaces. I didn't try TeleFinder with spaces.
count
This is the number of software titles you want to display. If you omit the value, a default of 10 is used. A maximum of 20 is allowed. Example: "count=15".
style
The "style" parameter is used to format the data. A value of "table" inserts a table in your page. Other values are "ordered" for an ordered list (numbered) and "unordered" for an unordered list (bulleted). If you omit the style parameter, a default value of "table" is used. Example: "style=unordered".
border
The "border" parameter is used only in connection with a "style" parameter value of "table". The only value for "border" is "yes". Any other value or the omission of the border parameter will cause your table to not display any borders. Example "border=yes".
url
The "url" parameter indicates that you want the software titles to be linked to the web sites where users may get information regarding updates. The value for the "url" parameter is "yes". If this parameter is omitted, the default is for no URLs to be used. Example "url=yes".
datestyle
The "datestyle" parameter allows you to format the date in the appropriate manner for your geographic location. Here are the values allowed and an example of the output:
"usa" mm/dd/yy
"ansi" yy.mm.dd
"british" dd/mm/yy
"german" dd.mm.yy
"italian" dd-mm-yy
"japan" yy/mm/dd
If you omit the "datestyle" parameter, no dates will be displayed. Example: "datestyle=british".
century
The "century" parameter is only used in connection with the "datestyle" parameter. If you set "century=yes", the century is added to the date. Example: "century=yes".
name_hdr
The "name_hdr" parameter allows you to place a heading over the software titles column in a table. This parameter is only used if you have specified "style=table". Example: "name_hdr=Name".
version_hdr
The "version_hdr" parameter allows you to place a heading over the software version number column in a table. This parameter is only used if you have specified "style=table". Example: "version_hdr=Version".
date_hdr
The "date_hdr" parameter allows you to place a heading over the date column in a table. This parameter is only used if you have specified "style=table". Example: "date_hdr=Date".
fontsize
The "fontsize" parameter allows you to size the font display in your list or table. Acceptable values for the fontsize are the numbers 1 through 7. The value given to size can optionally have a '+' or '-' character in front of it to specify that it is relative to the document BASEFONT. Example: "fontsize=-2".
fontcolor
The "fontcolor" parameter allows you to specify the color of the text in your list or table. You may specify the color in a '#rrggbb' format which is a hexadecimal color denoting a RGB color value or the color can be set to one the available pre-defined colors (black, white, silver, gray, maroon, red, purple, fuchsia, green, lime, olive, yellow, navy, blue, teal, or aqua). Example: "fontcolor=red" or "fontcolor=#FF0000".
align
The "align" parameter is used only for tables and allows a table to be aligned to the left, right, or center of the page, allowing text to flow around the table. The acceptable values for align are "left", "right", or "center". Example "align=left".
bgcolor
The "bgcolor" parameter allows the background color of the table to be specified, using either the specified color names, or a rrggbb hex triplet. The values allowed are the same as for the "fontcolor" parameter explained above. Example: "bgcolor=blue" or "bgcolor=#FF0000".
country
The "country" parameter allows you to select a specific country to display. The default if the "country" parameter is omitted is US. The complete list of country codes follows. As an example, to display French software, add "country=1" to the display parameters section of the SSI command.
US = 0
France = 1
Britain = 2
Germany = 3
Italy = 4
Netherlands = 5
Flemish = 6
Sweden = 7
Spain = 8
Denmark = 9
Portugal = 10
FrCanada = 11
Norway = 12
Israel = 13
Japan = 14
Australia = 15
Arabic = 16
Finland = 17
FrSwiss = 18
GrSwiss = 19
Greece = 20
Iceland = 21
Malta = 22
Cyprus = 23
Turkey = 24
YugoCroatian = 25
NetherlandsComma = 26
BelgiumLuxPoint = 27
CanadaComma = 28
CanadaPoint = 29
variantPortugal = 30
variantNorway = 31
variantDenmark = 32
IndiaHindi = 33
PakistanUrdu = 34
TurkishModified = 35
ItalianSwiss = 36
International = 37
38 is unassigned
Romania = 39
GreecePoly = 40
Lithuania = 41
Poland = 42
Hungary = 43
Estonia = 44
Latvia = 45
Sami = 46
FaroeIsl = 47
Iran = 48
Russia = 49
Ireland = 50
Korea = 51
China = 52
Taiwan = 53
Thailand = 54
ScriptGeneric = 55
Czech = 56
Slovak = 57
FarEastGeneric = 58
Magyar = 59
Bengali = 60
ByeloRussian = 61
Ukraine = 62
63 is unassigned
GreeceAlt = 64
Serbian = 65
Slovenian = 66
Macedonian = 67
Croatia = 68
69 is unassigned
70 is unassigned
Brazil = 71
Bulgaria = 72
Catalonia = 73
Multilingual = 74
ScottishGaelic = 75
ManxGaelic = 76
Breton = 77
Nunavut = 78
Welsh = 79
80 is unassigned
IrishGaelicScript = 81
EngCanada = 82
Bhutan = 83
Armenian = 84
Georgian = 85
SpLatinAmerica = 86
87 is unassigned
Tonga = 88
89 is unassigned
90 is unassigned
FrenchUnisal = 91
Austria = 92
93 is unassigned
Gujarati = 94
Punjabi = 95
IndiaUrdu = 96
Vietnam = 97
FrBelgium = 98
Uzbek = 99
Singapore = 100
Nynorsk = 101
Afrikaans = 102
Esperanto = 103
Marathi = 104
Tibetan = 105
Nepal = 106
Version 1.0 - Initial Release 28 May, 1999
14 June, 1999 - No version number change to the CGI. Server code added support for the following parameters: fontsize, fontcolor, align, bgcolor.
Symmetry Software
Corporation
9832 N. Hayden Road, Suite 101
Scottsdale, AZ 85258
Email:
info@scottsdale.com
support@scottsdale.com
Web:
http://www.scottsdale.com/
Phone:
(480) 596-1500
Fax: (480) 991-0572
Edited 6/14/99
Download VersionMaster CGI (VMGCI.sea) 224k from Headgap.
