First of all, I am a rank amateur at Perl. Here is my problem: I have a
hundred or more files in a directory on a web server (let's call it
'Library'). Each file is a pdf file and is named 'yyyymmm.pdf' where yyyy
is the year (i.e. 2007) and mmm is the first 3 letters of the month (i.e.
Jan). So a typical file name looks like '2007Jan.pdf'.

I wrote a simple html page using FORM that allows the user to select the
year and the month and then press the SUBMIT button and I want the
respective pdf file returned into the users browser. The problem is, I
don't know how to return a pdf file to the browser.

Here's what I have so far:

#!/usr/local/bin/perl -wT
use strict;
use CGI ':standard';

# declare variables...
my $year;
my $month;
my $pdffile;

# get the parameters...
$year = param('Year');
$month = param('Month');

# construct the relative pathname to the actual PDF file
$pdffile = '../Library/'.$Year.$Month.'.pdf';

print 'Content-type: application/pdf\n\n';

This is where I'm stuck. Can someone push me in the right direction. I
would think it should be trivial. I just don't know how to procede.

Thanks in advance...

Dick

Posted by Frank Seitz on May 29, 2008, 12:26 am

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Dick Sutton wrote:

> Here's what I have so far:

> #!/usr/local/bin/perl -wT

> use strict;

> use CGI ':standard';

> # declare variables...

> my $year;

> my $month;

> my $pdffile;

> # get the parameters...

> $year = param('Year');

> $month = param('Month');

> # construct the relative pathname to the actual PDF file

> $pdffile = '../Library/'.$Year.$Month.'.pdf';

> print 'Content-type: application/pdf\n\n';

> This is where I'm stuck. Can someone push me in the right direction. I

> would think it should be trivial. I just don't know how to procede.

$\ = undef;
open my $fh,'<',$pdffile or die $!;
print <$fh>;

Frank
--
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Posted by Uri Guttman on May 29, 2008, 1:33 am

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FS> $\ = undef;

that should be $/. this is another reason File::Slurp is useful. no need
to know this.

FS> open my $fh,'<',$pdffile or die $!;
FS> print <$fh>;

use File::Slurp ;
print read_file( $pdffile ) ;

uri

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Posted by Frank Seitz on May 29, 2008, 1:49 am

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Uri Guttman wrote:

> FS> $\ = undef;

> that should be $/.

You are right. The code works anyway (because
print provides a list context).

> this is another reason File::Slurp is useful. no need

> to know this.

> FS> open my $fh,'<',$pdffile or die $!;

> FS> print <$fh>;

> use File::Slurp ;

> print read_file( $pdffile ) ;

There is one disadvantage: File::Slurp is not in the core.

Frank
--
Dipl.-Inform. Frank Seitz; http://www.fseitz.de/
Anwendungen für Ihr Internet und Intranet
Tel: 04103/180301; Fax: -02; Industriestr. 31, 22880 Wedel

Posted by Uri Guttman on May 29, 2008, 10:45 am

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FS> Uri Guttman wrote:

FS> open my $fh,'<',$pdffile or die $!;
FS> print <$fh>;
>>
>> use File::Slurp ;
>> print read_file( $pdffile ) ;

FS> There is one disadvantage: File::Slurp is not in the core.

but many use it anyway. the not in core module excuse is weak as is the
"i can't install/use cpan" excuse.

uri

--
Uri Guttman ------ uri@stemsystems.com -------- http://www.sysarch.com --
----- Perl Code Review , Architecture, Development, Training, Support ------
--------- Free Perl Training --- http://perlhunter.com/college.html ---------
--------- Gourmet Hot Cocoa Mix ---- http://bestfriendscocoa.com ---------

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