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%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\section{non-Webware HTML output}
\label{otherHTML}
Cheetah can be used with all types of HTML output, not just with Webware.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\subsection{Static HTML Pages}
\label{otherHTML.static}
Some sites like Linux Gazette (\url{http://www.linuxgazette.com/}) require
completely static pages because they are mirrored on servers running completely
different software from the main site. Even dynamic sites may have one or
two pages that are static for whatever reason, and the site administrator may
wish to generate those pages from Cheetah templates.
There's nothing special here. Just create your templates as usual. Then
compile and fill them whenever the template definition changes, and fill them
again whenever the placeholder values change. You may need an extra step to
copy the .html files to their final location. A Makefile (chapter
\ref{tips.Makefile}) can help encapsulate these steps.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\subsection{CGI scripts}
\label{otherHTML}
Unlike Webware servlets, which don't have to worry about the HTTP headers,
CGI scripts must emit their own headers. To make a template CGI aware, add
this at the top:
\begin{verbatim}
#extends Cheetah.Tools.CGITemplate
#implements respond
$cgiHeaders#slurp
\end{verbatim}
Or if your template is inheriting from a Python class:
\begin{verbatim}
#extends MyPythonClass
#implements respond
$cgiHeaders#slurp
\end{verbatim}
A sample Python class:
\begin{verbatim}
from Cheetah.Tools import CGITemplate
class MyPythonClass(CGITemplate):
def cgiHeadersHook(self):
return "Content-Type: text/html; charset=koi8-r\n\n"
\end{verbatim}
Compile the template as usual, put the .py template module in your
cgi-bin directory and give it execute permission. \code{.cgiHeaders()} is
a ``smart'' method that outputs the headers if the module is called as a
CGI script, or outputs nothing if not. Being ``called as a CGI script''
means the environmental variable \code{REQUEST\_METHOD} exists and
\code{self.isControlledByWebKit} is false. If you don't agree with that
definition, override \code{.isCgi()} and provide your own.
The default header is a simple \verb+Content-type: text/html\n\n+, which works
with all CGI scripts. If you want to customize the headers (e.g., to
specify the character set), override \code{.cgiHeadersHook()} and return
a string containing all the headers. Don't forget to include the extra
newline at the end of the string: the HTTP protocol requires this empty
line to mark the end of the headers.
To read GET/POST variables from form input, use the \code{.webInput()} method
(section \ref{webware.webInput}), or extract them yourself using Python's
\code{cgi} module or your own function. Although \code{.webInput()} was
originally written for Webware servlets, it now handles CGI scripts too. There
are a couple behavioral differences between CGI scripts and Webware servlets
regarding input variables:
\begin{enumerate}
\item CGI scripts, using Python's \code{cgi} module, believe
\code{REQUEST\_METHOD} and recognize {\em either} GET variables {\em or}
POST variables, not both. Webware servlets, doing additional processing,
ignore \code{REQUEST\_METHOD} and recognize both, like PHP does.
\item Webware servlets can ask for cookies or session variables instead of
GET/POST variables, by passing the argument \code{src='c'} or
\code{src='s'}. CGI scripts get a \code{RuntimeError} if they try to do
this.
\end{enumerate}
If you keep your .tmpl files in the same directory as your CGI scripts, make
sure they don't have execute permission. Apache at least refuses to serve
files in a \code{ScriptAlias} directory that don't have execute permission.
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