NAME CGI::Tiny - Common Gateway Interface, with no frills SYNOPSIS #!/usr/bin/perl use strict; use warnings; use utf8; use CGI::Tiny; cgi { my $cgi = $_; $cgi->set_error_handler(sub { my ($cgi, $error, $rendered) = @_; warn $error; unless ($rendered) { if ($cgi->response_status_code == 413) { $cgi->render(json => {error => 'Request body limit exceeded'}); } elsif ($cgi->response_status_code == 400) { $cgi->render(json => {error => 'Bad request'}); } else { $cgi->render(json => {error => 'Internal server error'}); } } }); my $method = $cgi->method; my $fribble; if ($method eq 'GET') { $fribble = $cgi->query_param('fribble'); } elsif ($method eq 'POST') { $fribble = $cgi->body_param('fribble'); } else { $cgi->set_response_status(405)->render; exit; } die "Invalid fribble parameter" unless length $fribble; if ($cgi->query_param('download')) { $cgi->set_response_disposition(attachment => 'fribble.json'); } $cgi->render(json => {fribble => $fribble}); }; DESCRIPTION CGI::Tiny provides a modern interface to write CGI scripts to dynamically respond to HTTP requests as defined in RFC 3875 . It is intended to be: * Minimal CGI::Tiny contains a small amount of code and (on modern Perls) no non-core requirements. No framework needed. * Simple CGI::Tiny is straightforward to use, avoids anything magical or surprising, and provides easy access to the most commonly needed features. * Robust CGI::Tiny's interface is designed to help the developer follow best practices and avoid common pitfalls and vulnerabilities by default. * Lazy CGI::Tiny only loads code or processes information once it is needed, so simple requests can be handled without unnecessary overhead. * Restrained CGI::Tiny is designed for the CGI protocol which executes the program again for every request. It is not suitable for persistent protocols like FastCGI or PSGI. * Flexible CGI::Tiny can be used with other modules to handle tasks like routing and templating, and doesn't impose unnecessary constraints to reading input or rendering output. Most applications are better written in a PSGI-compatible framework (e.g. Dancer2 or Mojolicious) and deployed in a persistent application server so that the application does not have to start up again every time it receives a request. CGI::Tiny, and the CGI protocol in general, is only suited for restricted deployment environments that can only run CGI scripts, or applications that don't need to scale. See "COMPARISON TO CGI.PM". This module's interface is currently EXPERIMENTAL and may be changed incompatibly if needed. USAGE CGI::Tiny's interface is a regular function called cgi exported by default. use CGI::Tiny; cgi { my $cgi = $_; # set up error handling on $cgi # inspect request data via $cgi # set response headers if needed via $cgi # render response data with $cgi->render or $cgi->render_chunk }; The code block is immediately run with $_ set to a CGI::Tiny object, which "METHODS" can be called on to read request information and render a response. If an exception is thrown within the code block, or the code block does not render a response, it will run the handler set by "set_error_handler" if any, or by default emit the error as a warning and (if nothing has been rendered yet) render a 500 Internal Server Error. The default server error will also be rendered if the process ends abnormally between importing from CGI::Tiny and the start of the cgi block. Note that the cgi block's current implementation as a regular exported subroutine is an implementation detail, and future implementations reserve the right to provide it as an XSUB or keyword for performance reasons. You should not rely on @_ to be set, and you should not use return to exit the block; use exit to end a CGI script early after rendering a response. EXTENDING CGI::Tiny is a minimal interface to the CGI protocol, but can be extended with the use of other CPAN modules. Fatpacking App::FatPacker can be used to pack CGI::Tiny, as well as any other pure-perl dependencies, into a CGI script so that it can be deployed to other systems without having to install the dependencies there. As a bonus, this means the script doesn't have to load those modules separately from disk on every execution. Just keep in mind that the script will have to be repacked to update those dependencies, and CGI scripts greatly benefit from efficient XS tools which cannot be packed this way. $ fatpack pack script.source.cgi > script.cgi To pack in optional modules, such as JSON support for Perls older than 5.14: $ fatpack trace --use=JSON::PP script.source.cgi $ fatpack packlists-for $(cat fatpacker.trace) > packlists $ fatpack tree $(cat packlists) $ fatpack file script.source.cgi > script.cgi JSON CGI::Tiny has built in support for parsing and rendering JSON content with JSON::PP. CGI scripts that deal with JSON content will greatly benefit from installing Cpanel::JSON::XS version 4.09 or newer for efficient encoding and decoding, which will be used automatically if available. Templating HTML and XML responses are most easily managed with templating. A number of CPAN modules provide this capability. Text::Xslate is an efficient template engine designed for HTML/XML. #!/usr/bin/perl use strict; use warnings; use utf8; use CGI::Tiny; use Text::Xslate; use Data::Section::Simple 'get_data_section'; cgi { my $cgi = $_; my $foo = $cgi->query_param('foo'); my $tx = Text::Xslate->new(path => ['templates'], cache => 0); # from templates/ $cgi->render(html => $tx->render('index.tx', {foo => $foo})); # or from __DATA__ my $template = get_data_section 'index.tx'; $cgi->render(html => $tx->render_string($template, {foo => $foo})); }; __DATA__ @@ index.tx

<: $foo :>

Mojo::Template is a lightweight HTML/XML template engine in the Mojo toolkit. #!/usr/bin/perl use strict; use warnings; use utf8; use CGI::Tiny; use Mojo::Template; use Mojo::File 'curfile'; use Mojo::Loader 'data_section'; cgi { my $cgi = $_; my $foo = $cgi->query_param('foo'); my $mt = Mojo::Template->new(auto_escape => 1, vars => 1); # from templates/ my $template_path = curfile->sibling('templates', 'index.html.ep'); $cgi->render(html => $mt->render_file($template_path, {foo => $foo})); # or from __DATA__ my $template = data_section __PACKAGE__, 'index.html.ep'; $cgi->render(html => $mt->render($template, {foo => $foo})); }; __DATA__ @@ index.html.ep

<%= $foo %>

Files Modules like Path::Tiny and MIME::Types can help with file responses. Be aware that Perl and some operating systems work with filenames in encoded bytes (usually UTF-8), but this module works with parameters in Unicode characters, so non-ASCII filenames make things trickier. #!/usr/bin/perl use strict; use warnings; use utf8; use CGI::Tiny; use Path::Tiny; use MIME::Types; use Unicode::UTF8 qw(encode_utf8 decode_utf8); cgi { my $cgi = $_; my $filename = $cgi->query_param('filename'); unless (length $filename) { $cgi->set_response_status(404)->render(text => 'Not Found'); exit; } # get files from public/ next to cgi-bin/ my $public_dir = path(__FILE__)->realpath->parent->sibling('public'); my $encoded_filename = encode_utf8 $filename; my $filepath = $public_dir->child($encoded_filename); # ensure file exists, is readable, and is not a directory unless (-r $filepath and !-d _) { $cgi->set_response_status(404)->render(text => 'Not Found'); exit; } # ensure file path doesn't escape the public/ directory unless ($public_dir->subsumes($filepath->realpath)) { $cgi->set_response_status(404)->render(text => 'Not Found'); exit; } my $basename = decode_utf8 $filepath->basename; my $mime = MIME::Types->new->mimeTypeOf($basename); $cgi->set_response_type($mime->type) if defined $mime; $cgi->set_response_disposition(attachment => $basename)->render(file => $filepath); }; Logging CGI scripts can usually log errors directly to STDERR with the warn function, and rely on the CGI server to log them to a file, but you will likely need to encode errors to UTF-8 if you expect them to contain non-ASCII text. Minimal loggers like Log::Any can also be used to redirect errors and warnings to a file or other logging mechanism specific to the CGI script, encode them to bytes automatically, and also log debugging information when the log level is set to debug. Just make sure the CGI server has permission to create and write to the logging target. #!/usr/bin/perl use strict; use warnings; use utf8; use CGI::Tiny; use Log::Any; use Log::Any::Adapter {category => 'cgi-script'}, # only log our category here File => '/path/to/log/file.log', binmode => ':encoding(UTF-8)', log_level => $ENV{MY_CGI_LOG_LEVEL} || 'info'; my $log = Log::Any->get_logger(category => 'cgi-script'); local $SIG{__WARN__} = sub { my ($warning) = @_; chomp $warning; $log->warn($warning); }; cgi { my $cgi = $_; $cgi->set_error_handler(sub { my ($cgi, $error, $rendered) = @_; chomp $error; $log->error($error); }); # only logged if MY_CGI_LOG_LEVEL=debug set in CGI server environment $log->debugf('Method: %s, Path: %s, Query: %s', $cgi->method, $cgi->path, $cgi->query); # handle the actual request }; Routing Web applications use routing to serve multiple types of requests from one application. Routes::Tiny can be used to organize this with CGI::Tiny, using REQUEST_METHOD and PATH_INFO (which is the URL path after the CGI script name). #!/usr/bin/perl use strict; use warnings; use utf8; use CGI::Tiny; use Routes::Tiny; my %dispatch = ( foos => sub { my ($cgi) = @_; my $method = $cgi->method; ... }, get_foo => sub { my ($cgi, $captures) = @_; my $id = $captures->{id}; ... }, put_foo => sub { my ($cgi, $captures) = @_; my $id = $captures->{id}; ... }, ); cgi { my $cgi = $_; my $routes = Routes::Tiny->new; # /script.cgi/foo $routes->add_route('/foo', name => 'foos'); # /script.cgi/foo/42 $routes->add_route('/foo/:id', method => 'GET', name => 'get_foo'); $routes->add_route('/foo/:id', method => 'PUT', name => 'put_foo'); if (defined(my $match = $routes->match($cgi->path, method => $cgi->method))) { $dispatch{$match->name}->($cgi, $match->captures); } else { $cgi->set_response_status(404)->render(text => 'Not Found'); } }; METHODS The following methods can be called on the CGI::Tiny object provided to the cgi code block. Setup set_error_handler $cgi = $cgi->set_error_handler(sub { my ($cgi, $error, $rendered) = @_; ... }); Sets an error handler to run in the event of an exception or if the script ends without rendering a response. The handler will be called with the CGI::Tiny object, the error value, and a boolean indicating whether response headers have been rendered yet. The error value can be any exception thrown by Perl or user code. It should generally not be included in any response rendered to the client, but instead warned or logged. Exceptions may occur before or after response headers have been rendered. If response headers have not been rendered, error handlers may inspect "response_status_code" and/or render some error response. The response status code will be set to 500 when this handler is called if it has not been set to a specific 400- or 500-level error status. If the error handler itself throws an exception, that error and the original error will be emitted as a warning. If no response has been rendered after the error handler completes or dies, a default error response will be rendered. Note that the error handler is only meant for logging and customization of the final error response in a failed request dispatch; to handle exceptions within standard application flow without causing an error response, use an exception handling mechanism such as Syntax::Keyword::Try or Feature::Compat::Try (which will use the new try feature if available). set_request_body_buffer $cgi = $cgi->set_request_body_buffer(256*1024); Sets the buffer size (number of bytes to read at once) for reading the request body. Defaults to the value of the CGI_TINY_REQUEST_BODY_BUFFER environment variable or 262144 (256 KiB). A value of 0 will use the default value. set_request_body_limit $cgi = $cgi->set_request_body_limit(16*1024*1024); Sets the limit in bytes for the request body. Defaults to the value of the CGI_TINY_REQUEST_BODY_LIMIT environment variable or 16777216 (16 MiB). A value of 0 will remove the limit (not recommended unless you have other safeguards on memory usage). Since the request body is not parsed until needed, methods that parse the request body like "body" or "upload" will set the response status to 413 Payload Too Large and throw an exception if the content length is over the limit. Files uploaded through a multipart/form-data request body also count toward this limit, though they are streamed to temporary files when parsed. set_multipart_form_charset $cgi = $cgi->set_multipart_form_charset('UTF-8'); Sets the default charset for decoding multipart/form-data forms, defaults to UTF-8. Parameter and upload field names, upload filenames, and text parameter values that don't specify a charset will be decoded from this charset. Set to an empty string to disable this decoding, effectively interpreting such values in ISO-8859-1. set_input_handle $cgi = $cgi->set_input_handle($fh); Sets the input handle to read the request body from. If not set, reads from STDIN. The handle will have binmode applied before reading to remove any translation layers. set_output_handle $cgi = $cgi->set_output_handle($fh); Sets the output handle to print the response to. If not set, prints to STDOUT. The handle will have binmode applied before printing to remove any translation layers. Request Environment auth_type content_length content_type gateway_interface path_info path_translated query_string remote_addr remote_host remote_ident remote_user request_method script_name server_name server_port server_protocol server_software my $auth_type = $cgi->auth_type; # AUTH_TYPE my $content_length = $cgi->content_length; # CONTENT_LENGTH my $content_type = $cgi->content_type; # CONTENT_TYPE my $gateway = $cgi->gateway_interface; # GATEWAY_INTERFACE my $path = $cgi->path_info; # PATH_INFO my $file_path = $cgi->path_translated; # PATH_TRANSLATED my $query = $cgi->query_string; # QUERY_STRING my $remote_addr = $cgi->remote_addr; # REMOTE_ADDR my $remote_host = $cgi->remote_host; # REMOTE_HOST my $remote_ident = $cgi->remote_ident; # REMOTE_IDENT my $remote_user = $cgi->remote_user; # REMOTE_USER my $method = $cgi->request_method; # REQUEST_METHOD my $script_name = $cgi->script_name; # SCRIPT_NAME my $hostname = $cgi->server_name; # SERVER_NAME my $port = $cgi->server_port; # SERVER_PORT my $protocol = $cgi->server_protocol; # SERVER_PROTOCOL my $server = $cgi->server_software; # SERVER_SOFTWARE Access to request meta-variables of the equivalent uppercase names. Since CGI does not distinguish between missing and empty values, missing values will be normalized to an empty string. method path query my $method = $cgi->method; # REQUEST_METHOD my $path = $cgi->path; # PATH_INFO my $query = $cgi->query; # QUERY_STRING Short aliases for a few request meta-variables. Request Parsing query_params my $pairs = $cgi->query_params; Retrieve URL query string parameters as an ordered array reference of name/value pairs, represented as two-element array references. Names and values are decoded to Unicode characters. query_param_names my $arrayref = $cgi->query_param_names; Retrieve URL query string parameter names, decoded to Unicode characters, as an ordered array reference. query_param my $value = $cgi->query_param('foo'); Retrieve value of a named URL query string parameter, decoded to Unicode characters. If the parameter name was passed multiple times, returns the last value. Use "query_param_array" to get multiple values of a parameter. query_param_array my $arrayref = $cgi->query_param_array('foo'); Retrieve values of a named URL query string parameter, decoded to Unicode characters, as an ordered array reference. headers my $hashref = $cgi->headers; Hash reference of available request header names and values. Header names are represented in lowercase. header my $value = $cgi->header('Accept-Language'); Retrieve the value of a request header by name (case insensitive). CGI request headers can only contain a single value, which may be combined from multiple values. cookies my $pairs = $cgi->cookies; Retrieve request cookies as an ordered array reference of name/value pairs, represented as two-element array references. cookie_names my $arrayref = $cgi->cookie_names; Retrieve request cookie names as an ordered array reference. cookie my $value = $cgi->cookie('foo'); Retrieve the value of a request cookie by name. If multiple cookies were passed with the same name, returns the last value. Use "cookie_array" to get multiple values of a cookie name. cookie_array my $arrayref = $cgi->cookie_array('foo'); Retrieve values of a request cookie name as an ordered array reference. body my $bytes = $cgi->body; Retrieve the request body as bytes. Note that this will read the whole request body into memory, so make sure the "set_request_body_limit" can fit well within the available memory. Not available after calling "body_parts", "body_params", or "uploads" (or related accessors) on a multipart/form-data request, since this type of request body is not retained in memory after parsing. body_params my $pairs = $cgi->body_params; Retrieve application/x-www-form-urlencoded or multipart/form-data body parameters as an ordered array reference of name/value pairs, represented as two-element array references. Names and values are decoded to Unicode characters. Note that this will read the text form fields into memory, so make sure the "set_request_body_limit" can fit well within the available memory. body_param_names my $arrayref = $cgi->body_param_names; Retrieve application/x-www-form-urlencoded or multipart/form-data body parameter names, decoded to Unicode characters, as an ordered array reference. Note that this will read the text form fields into memory, so make sure the "set_request_body_limit" can fit well within the available memory. body_param my $value = $cgi->body_param('foo'); Retrieve value of a named application/x-www-form-urlencoded or multipart/form-data body parameter, decoded to Unicode characters. If the parameter name was passed multiple times, returns the last value. Use "body_param_array" to get multiple values of a parameter. Note that this will read the text form fields into memory, so make sure the "set_request_body_limit" can fit well within the available memory. body_param_array my $arrayref = $cgi->body_param_array('foo'); Retrieve values of a named application/x-www-form-urlencoded or multipart/form-data body parameter, decoded to Unicode characters, as an ordered array reference. Note that this will read the text form fields into memory, so make sure the "set_request_body_limit" can fit well within the available memory. body_json my $data = $cgi->body_json; Decode an application/json request body from UTF-8-encoded JSON. Note that this will read the whole request body into memory, so make sure the "set_request_body_limit" can fit well within the available memory. body_parts my $parts = $cgi->body_parts; Retrieve multipart/form-data request body parts as an ordered array reference. Most applications should retrieve multipart form data through "body_params" and "uploads" (or related accessors) instead. Note that this will read the text form fields into memory, so make sure the "set_request_body_limit" can fit well within the available memory. Body parts are represented as hash references containing: headers Hash reference of part headers. Header names are represented in lowercase. name Form field name from Content-Disposition header, undecoded. filename Filename from Content-Disposition header if present, undecoded. size Size of part contents in bytes. content Part contents as undecoded bytes, for parts without a defined filename. File uploads are stored in a temporary file instead. file File::Temp object referencing temporary file containing the part contents, for parts with a defined filename. uploads my $pairs = $cgi->uploads; Retrieve multipart/form-data file uploads as an ordered array reference of name/upload pairs, represented as two-element array references. Names are decoded to Unicode characters. Note that this will read the text form fields into memory, so make sure the "set_request_body_limit" can fit well within the available memory. File uploads are represented as a hash reference containing the following keys: filename Original filename supplied to file input. An empty filename may indicate that no file was submitted. content_type Content-Type of uploaded file, undef if unspecified. size File size in bytes. file File::Temp object storing the file contents in a temporary file, which will be cleaned up when the CGI script ends by default. The filehandle will be open with the seek pointer at the start of the file for reading. upload_names my $arrayref = $cgi->upload_names; Retrieve multipart/form-data file upload names, decoded to Unicode characters, as an ordered array reference. Note that this will read the text form fields into memory, so make sure the "set_request_body_limit" can fit well within the available memory. upload my $upload = $cgi->upload('foo'); Retrieve a named multipart/form-data file upload. If the upload name was passed multiple times, returns the last value. Use "upload_array" to get multiple uploads with the same name. See "uploads" for details on the representation of the upload. Note that this will read the text form fields into memory, so make sure the "set_request_body_limit" can fit well within the available memory. upload_array my $arrayref = $cgi->upload_array('foo'); Retrieve all multipart/form-data file uploads of the specified name as an ordered array reference. See "uploads" for details on the representation of the uploads. Note that this will read the text form fields into memory, so make sure the "set_request_body_limit" can fit well within the available memory. Response set_nph $cgi = $cgi->set_nph; $cgi = $cgi->set_nph(1); If set to a true value or called without a value before rendering response headers, CGI::Tiny will act as a NPH (Non-Parsed Header) script and render full HTTP response headers. This may be required for some CGI servers, or enable unbuffered responses or HTTP extensions not supported by the CGI server. No effect after response headers have been rendered. set_response_body_buffer $cgi = $cgi->set_response_body_buffer(128*1024); Sets the buffer size (number of bytes to read at once) for streaming a file or handle response body with "render" or "render_chunk". Defaults to the value of the CGI_TINY_RESPONSE_BODY_BUFFER environment variable or 131072 (128 KiB). A value of 0 will use the default value. set_response_status $cgi = $cgi->set_response_status(404); $cgi = $cgi->set_response_status('500 Internal Server Error'); Sets the response HTTP status code. A full status string including a human-readable message will be used as-is. A bare status code must be a known HTTP status code and will have the standard human-readable message appended. No effect after response headers have been rendered. The CGI protocol assumes a status of 200 OK if no response status is set. set_response_disposition $cgi = $cgi->set_response_disposition('attachment'); $cgi = $cgi->set_response_disposition(attachment => $filename); $cgi = $cgi->set_response_disposition('inline'); # default behavior $cgi = $cgi->set_response_disposition(inline => $filename); Sets the response Content-Disposition header to indicate how the client should present the response, with an optional filename specified in Unicode characters. attachment suggests to download the content as a file, and inline suggests to display the content inline (the default behavior). No effect after response headers have been rendered. set_response_type $cgi = $cgi->set_response_type('application/xml'); Sets the response Content-Type header, to override autodetection in "render" or "render_chunk". undef will remove the override. No effect after response headers have been rendered. set_response_charset $cgi = $cgi->set_response_charset('UTF-8'); Set charset to use when rendering text, html, or xml response data, defaults to UTF-8. add_response_header $cgi = $cgi->add_response_header('Content-Language' => 'en'); Adds a custom response header. No effect after response headers have been rendered. Note that header names are case insensitive and CGI::Tiny does not attempt to deduplicate or munge headers that have been added manually. Headers are printed in the response in the same order added, and adding the same header multiple times will result in multiple instances of that response header. add_response_cookie $cgi = $cgi->add_response_cookie($name => $value, Expires => 'Sun, 06 Nov 1994 08:49:37 GMT', HttpOnly => 1, 'Max-Age' => 3600, Path => '/foo', SameSite => 'Strict', Secure => 1, ); Adds a Set-Cookie response header. No effect after response headers have been rendered. Note that cookie values should only consist of ASCII characters and may not contain any control characters, space characters, or the characters ",;\. More complex values can be encoded to UTF-8 and base64 for transport. use Unicode::UTF8 'encode_utf8'; use MIME::Base64 'encode_base64'; my $encoded_value = encode_base64 encode_utf8($value), ''; $cgi->add_response_cookie(foo => $encoded_value, %attrs); use Unicode::UTF8 'decode_utf8'; use MIME::Base64 'decode_base64'; my $value = decode_utf8 decode_base64 $cgi->cookie('foo'); Data structures can be encoded to JSON and base64 for transport. use Cpanel::JSON::XS 'encode_json'; use MIME::Base64 'encode_base64'; my $encoded_value = encode_base64 encode_json(\%hash), ''; $cgi->add_response_cookie(foo => $encoded_value, %attrs); use Cpanel::JSON::XS 'decode_json'; use MIME::Base64 'decode_base64'; my $hashref = decode_json decode_base64 $cgi->cookie('foo'); Optional cookie attributes are specified in key-value pairs after the cookie name and value. Cookie attribute names are case-insensitive. Domain Domain for which cookie is valid. Expires Expiration date string for cookie. "epoch_to_date" can be used to generate the appropriate date string format. HttpOnly If set to a true value, the cookie will be restricted from client-side scripts. Max-Age Max age of cookie before it expires, in seconds, as an alternative to specifying Expires. Path URL path for which cookie is valid. SameSite Strict to restrict the cookie to requests from the same site, Lax to allow it additionally in certain cross-site requests. This attribute is currently part of a draft specification so its handling may change, but it is supported by most browsers. Secure If set to a true value, the cookie will be restricted to HTTPS requests. reset_response_headers $cgi = $cgi->reset_response_headers; Remove any pending response headers set by "add_response_header" or "add_response_cookie". No effect after response headers have been rendered. response_status_code my $code = $cgi->response_status_code; Numerical response HTTP status code that will be sent when headers are rendered, as set by "set_response_status" or an error occurring. Defaults to 200. render $cgi = $cgi->render; # default Content-Type: $cgi = $cgi->render(text => $text); # text/plain;charset=$charset $cgi = $cgi->render(html => $html); # text/html;charset=$charset $cgi = $cgi->render(xml => $xml); # application/xml;charset=$charset $cgi = $cgi->render(json => $ref); # application/json;charset=UTF-8 $cgi = $cgi->render(data => $bytes); # application/octet-stream $cgi = $cgi->render(file => $filepath); # application/octet-stream $cgi = $cgi->render(redirect => $url); Renders response headers and then fixed-length response data of a type indicated by the first parameter, if any. A Content-Length header will be set to the length of the encoded response content, and further calls to render or "render_chunk" will throw an exception. Use "render_chunk" instead to render without a Content-Length header. The Content-Type response header will be set according to "set_response_type", or autodetected depending on the data type passed, or to application/octet-stream if there is no more appropriate value. The Date response header will be set to the current time as an HTTP date string if not set manually. text, html, or xml data is expected to be decoded Unicode characters, and will be encoded according to "set_response_charset" (UTF-8 by default). Unicode::UTF8 will be used for efficient UTF-8 encoding if available. json data structures will be encoded to JSON and UTF-8. data or file will render bytes from a string or local file path respectively. A handle, or a file whose size cannot be determined accurately from the filesystem, must be rendered using "render_chunk" since its Content-Length cannot be determined beforehand. redirect will set a Location header to redirect the client to another URL. The response status will be set to 302 Found unless a different 300-level status has been set with "set_response_status". It will set a Content-Length of 0, and it will not set a Content-Type response header. render_chunk $cgi = $cgi->render_chunk; # default Content-Type: $cgi = $cgi->render_chunk(text => $text); # text/plain;charset=$charset $cgi = $cgi->render_chunk(html => $html); # text/html;charset=$charset $cgi = $cgi->render_chunk(xml => $xml); # application/xml;charset=$charset $cgi = $cgi->render_chunk(json => $ref); # application/json;charset=UTF-8 $cgi = $cgi->render_chunk(data => $bytes); # application/octet-stream $cgi = $cgi->render_chunk(file => $filepath); # application/octet-stream $cgi = $cgi->render_chunk(handle => $filehandle); # application/octet-stream Renders response headers the first time it is called, and then chunked response data of a type indicated by the first parameter, if any. No Content-Length header will be set, and render_chunk may be called additional times with more response data. render_chunk does not impose a chunked response, it simply does not generate a Content-Length header. For content where the total encoded content length is known in advance but the content can't be passed to a single "render" call, a Content-Length header can be set manually with "add_response_header", and then render_chunk may be used to render each part. The Content-Type response header will be set according to "set_response_type", or autodetected depending on the data type passed in the first call to render_chunk, or to application/octet-stream if there is no more appropriate value. The Date response header will be set to the current time as an HTTP date string if not set manually. text, html, or xml data is expected to be decoded Unicode characters, and will be encoded according to "set_response_charset" (UTF-8 by default). Unicode::UTF8 will be used for efficient UTF-8 encoding if available. json data structures will be encoded to JSON and UTF-8. data, file, or handle will render bytes from a string, local file path, or open filehandle respectively. A handle will have binmode applied to remove any translation layers, and its contents will be streamed until EOF. redirect responses must be rendered with "render". FUNCTIONS The following convenience functions are provided but not exported. epoch_to_date my $date = CGI::Tiny::epoch_to_date $epoch; Convert a Unix epoch timestamp, such as returned by time, to a RFC 1123 HTTP date string suitable for use in HTTP headers such as Date and Expires. date_to_epoch my $epoch = CGI::Tiny::date_to_epoch $date; Parse a RFC 1123 HTTP date string to a Unix epoch timestamp. For compatibility as required by RFC 7231 , legacy RFC 850 and ANSI C asctime date formats are also recognized. Returns undef if the string does not parse as any of these formats. # RFC 1123 my $epoch = CGI::Tiny::date_to_epoch 'Sun, 06 Nov 1994 08:49:37 GMT'; # RFC 850 my $epoch = CGI::Tiny::date_to_epoch 'Sunday, 06-Nov-94 08:49:37 GMT'; # asctime my $epoch = CGI::Tiny::date_to_epoch 'Sun Nov 6 08:49:37 1994'; ENVIRONMENT CGI::Tiny recognizes the following environment variables, in addition to the standard CGI environment variables. CGI_TINY_REQUEST_BODY_BUFFER Default value for "set_request_body_buffer". CGI_TINY_REQUEST_BODY_LIMIT Default value for "set_request_body_limit". CGI_TINY_RESPONSE_BODY_BUFFER Default value for "set_response_body_buffer". COMPARISON TO CGI.PM Traditionally, the CGI module (referred to as CGI.pm to differentiate it from the CGI protocol) has been used to write Perl CGI scripts. This module fills a similar need but has a number of interface differences to be aware of. * There is no CGI::Tiny object constructor; the object is accessible within the cgi block, only reads request data from the environment once it is accessed, and ensures that a valid response is rendered to avoid gateway errors even in the event of an exception or premature exit. * Instead of global variables like $CGI::POST_MAX, global behavior settings are applied to the CGI::Tiny object inside the cgi block. * Exceptions within the cgi block are handled by default by rendering a server error response and emitting the error as a warning. This can be customized with "set_error_handler". * Request query and body parameter accessors in CGI::Tiny are not context sensitive, as context sensitivity can lead to surprising behavior and vulnerabilities . "query_param", "body_param", and "upload" always return a single value; "query_param_array", "body_param_array", and "upload_array" must be used to retrieve multi-value parameters. * CGI::Tiny does not have a method-sensitive param accessor; query and body request parameters are accessed with "query_param" and "body_param" respectively. Uploaded files and their metadata are accessed with "upload" and do not affect the text parameter accessors. * CGI::Tiny decodes request query and body parameters to Unicode characters automatically, and "render"/"render_chunk" provide methods to encode response data from Unicode characters to UTF-8 by default. * In CGI.pm, response headers must be printed manually before any response data is printed to avoid malformed responses. In CGI::Tiny, the "render" or "render_chunk" methods are used to print response data, and automatically print response headers when first called. redirect responses are also handled by "render". * In CGI::Tiny, a custom response status is set by calling "set_response_status" before the first "render" or "render_chunk", which only requires the status code and will add the appropriate human-readable status message itself. * Response setters are distinct methods from request accessors in CGI::Tiny. "content_type", "header", and "cookie" are used to access request data, and "set_response_type", "add_response_header", and "add_response_cookie" are used to set response headers for the pending response before the first call to "render" or "render_chunk". * CGI::Tiny does not provide any HTML generation helpers, as this functionality is much better implemented by other robust implementations on CPAN; see "Templating". * CGI::Tiny does not do any implicit encoding of cookie values or the Expires header or cookie attribute. The "epoch_to_date" convenience function is provided to render appropriate Expires date values. There are a number of alternatives to CGI.pm but they do not sufficiently address the design issues; primarily, none of them gracefully handle exceptions or failure to render a response, and several of them have no features for rendering responses. * CGI::Simple shares all of the interface design problems of CGI.pm, though it does not reimplement the HTML generation helpers. * CGI::Thin is ancient and only implements parsing of request query or body parameters, without decoding them to Unicode characters. * CGI::Minimal has context-sensitive parameter accessors, and only implements parsing of request query/body parameters (without decoding them to Unicode characters) and uploads. * CGI::Lite has context-sensitive parameter accessors, and only implements parsing of request query/body parameters (without decoding them to Unicode characters), uploads, and cookies. * CGI::Easy has a robust interface, but pre-parses all request information. CAVEATS CGI is an extremely simplistic protocol and relies particularly on the global state of environment variables and the STDIN and STDOUT standard filehandles. CGI::Tiny does not prevent you from messing with these interfaces directly, but it may result in confusion. CGI::Tiny eschews certain sanity checking for performance reasons. For example, Content-Type and other header values set for the response should only contain ASCII text with no control characters, but CGI::Tiny does not verify this (though it does verify they do not contain newline characters to protect against HTTP response splitting). Field names and filenames in multipart/form-data requests do not have a well-defined escape mechanism for special characters, so CGI::Tiny will not attempt to decode these names from however the client passes them aside from "set_multipart_form_charset". For best compatibility, form field names should be ASCII without double quotes or semicolons. TODO * Debugging tools BUGS Report any issues on the public bugtracker. AUTHOR Dan Book COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE This software is Copyright (c) 2021 by Dan Book. This is free software, licensed under: The Artistic License 2.0 (GPL Compatible) SEE ALSO CGI::Alternatives, Mojolicious, Dancer2