RE: [MacPerl-WebCGI] a blatant call for help

[Henry Penninkilampi <htp@metropolis.net.au>]

On Mon, 27 Mar 2000 19:27:42 -0500, "Thompsen, Philip" 
<PTHOMPSEN@wcupa.edu> wrote:

>Essentially, I have some students who want to ftp their perl scripts to the
>server and have them saved as cgi's.  As long as there are only a few
>students doing this, I don't mind doing it manually.  But sometimes the
>students get impatient if I don't compile their scripts right away.  They
>want to see if their scripts work, and it can get cumbersome if their
>scripts are buggy.  Typically, they come to my office, we launch MacPerl,
>open their script, run the syntax check, fix any obvious bugs, compile the
>script as a cgi, put it on the server, and test it out.  I would like to
>streamline this process if possible.

Use AppleEvents.

Have a dedicated drop-box on the server, and leave this folder open 
(docked, even) on the desktop of that machine.  Then have an AppleScript 
"watch" that folder.  If anything is placed in it, have the script 
instruct MacPerl to open it, execute it, and then save the output in a 
"scriptName.output" file (somewhere where your students can get at it).

Heck, to make this answer relevant to this group, you could write the 
watcher program entirely in MacPerl, save it as a standalone application, 
put it in the startup items folder, and then have it sleep a pre-defined 
period between checks.  Using Chris Nandor's AppleEvent modules, you can 
then have your Watcher application instruct MacPerl to do the 
aforementioned work.

Your students can then drop their script into the folder, wait a few 
minutes, and then check the results.  All without you having to lift a 
finger.

Henry.

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