S-Mart Cart on Win95/98 Platform

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Further to various earlier questions relating to installing cart on Win95/98 platform, my advice is don't try to use Microsoft Personal Web Server. I am fairly low on the CGI learning curve, but I followed all instructions re editing config files etc to the letter and could not get a peep out of the system. I then downloaded Apache for Windows (shucks, it's free!!) and although I found the config notes almost inpenetrable, I managed to get it configed enough to run. Voila!! S-mart then ran immediately. By the way, I also fell into Barry's carefully laid trap of calling the same file by different names, S-Mart, smart etc. Beware, anyone who does not know, S-Mart does not exist. There are only 2 files smart.cgi and smart.cfg. make sure yours are named correctly and file paths cross-refer with correct names when you edit them! Note the following. Install Activeperl 5.22 in c:\perl (making your path to perl #!c:\perl\bin\perl.exe for the less initiated like me). Then check your file associations. You will probably find that cgi files are associated with some loathesome little Microsoft program you've never even heard of so you will have to edit the association manually to link them to perl (My Computer, View, Folder Options, File Types). Next you need to config Apache. This, friends, is not easy (at least I don't think it is, but then....). My experience is that you need to keep changing the bits that appear to make sense, a bit at a time. If it runs (it won't without configing) you are on the right track. How do you know it is running? Easy - the perl window stays open and you can then minimise it onto the Windows taskbar. Even then it still may not run S-mart without a bit of tweaking eg you will have to add a cgi script handler (simply add it to the handler list at the appropriate place - it's obvious - where it is mentioned in the config instructions). By the way, despite what all the buffs seem to be saying, use Wordpad 'All Files' for all your editing - it doesn't add unwanted carriage returns in my (limited) experience. Last thing, just in case I went back in My Computer, opened up in turn all the folders and files used by S-Mart, clicked View, Properties and gave them all full file sharing. I don't know if this is necessary, but it didn't seem to do any harm. I also went into Network in the Control Panel and clicked on file and print sharing. Again, I don't know if this is strictly necessary, but by now I'm feeling euphoric!! Oh yes, the mail program. I didn't like the sound of Blat, it is a bit too Unixy for me, so I downloaded Sendmail for Windows. It tests OK, so I guess it will work. I put it into c:\webshare\scripts\ (making the path to mailprog c:/webshare/scripts/sendmail.exe) but it doesn't seem to matter within reason where you put it. OK, it's a 30 day Shareware prog, but if it gets you out of trouble... That's all I can remember for now. I hope this stuff will be of help for a few other poor schmucks out there cause I could have done with it myself a few weeks ago. Hasta la vista baby!

-- Roger Mole (roger@ashbury.ndo.co.uk), February 25, 2000

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-- Patrick Chan (patrickccf@hotmail.com), February 27, 2000.

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