[MacPerl] Re: Error type 12 in .acgi

[David Steffen <steffen@biomedcomp.com>]

Ricky Morse wrote:

>The script requires the use of an outside authentication system -- a
>modified version of Kerberos.  In order to use this, I need to send an
>AppleScript to another program, which queries the user for a kerberos
>ticket, and then reports back who the person is.  The problem is that
>this takes time.  Especially if someone doesn't type in their password
>immediately (which has happened).  So now, the script needs to wait for a
>reply, and the server needs to wait for the script.  Unfortunately, this
>server serves at least three web sites (will be more soon) -- including
>the Senior Vice President's.  So whenever the script is running (and it
>is not fast even if the password is entered directly), three web sites
>are blocked -- because WebStar won't serve even other virtual domains
>while waiting for a return from a .cgi.

Chris answered your other questions, so I am just going to focus on 
the case where someone is slow entering their password.

Before I begin, I have to say I'm a little stuck, as I don't 
understand how your Kerberos thing works.  How exactly does it 
communicate with the user to request a password?

As I understand it, and have just confirmed with a quick experiment 
(using Quid Pro Quo not WebSTAR, but I doubt if that is significant), 
WebSTAR is perfectly happy to service other requests while awaiting 
the results of the first.

If, however, the first request is a script written in MacPerl as a 
.cgi, and the second request is a script written in MacPerl as a 
.cgi, then you have to wait for MacPerl to finish one request before 
handling another.

That's one possibility.

Another possibility, given that AppleScript will only do one thing at 
a time, is that your Kerberos application and/or the AppleScript link 
to that are the bottleneck.

Depending on exactly what's going on, there are possible solutions, 
including restructuring the flow of contol in your system, switching 
to Frontier, and creating multiple independent MacPerl clones on your 
server.  (I'm not sure that WebTen would help as I don't think its 
perl knows AppleEvents.)

-David Steffen-
David Steffen, Ph.D.
President, Biomedical Computing, Inc. <http://www.biomedcomp.com/>
Phone: (713) 610-9770 FAX: (713) 610-9769 E-mail: steffen@biomedcomp.com

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