The most important hidden input element for Zot-Dispatch has the name
ZD-Method. Each separate ZD-Method hidden element
in a form specifies a single action that is to be performed by Zot-Dispatch.
There are three fields within a ZD-Method hidden element that
help to specify exactly what ZD is to do.
The three fields are:
and they are specified in the order shown above separated by semi-colons as follows:
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=ZD-Method
VALUE="Dispatch Method;Destination;Template">
ZD-Method hidden input
element specifies one of the three dispatch methods (mail, append, or reflect).
The term ZD-Mail is used in this field to
have Zot-Dispatch send e-mail,
ZD-Append is used in this field to have Zot-Dispatch append to a
file, and ZD-Reflect is used to have Zot-Dispatch reflect
(echo data to the user's browser).
Examples:
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=ZD-Method
VALUE="ZD-Mail;Destination;Template">
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=ZD-Method
VALUE="ZD-Append;Destination;Template">
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=ZD-Method
VALUE="ZD-Reflect;Destination;Template">
With each of the dispatch methods Zot-Dispatch will mail, append, or reflect
either the default output (name=value pairs) or will output your
template
with the appropriate values substituted
(More on templates later).
ZD-Mail
If the Dispatch Method field is ZD-Mail, then the
Destination field is the e-mail address (or comma separated list of
addresses) to which the response data is sent.
Examples:
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=ZD-Method
VALUE="ZD-Mail;lmegliol@uci.edu;Template">
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=ZD-Method
VALUE="ZD-Mail;lmegliol@uci.edu, lmegliol@hydra.acs.uci.edu;Template">
ZD-Append
When the Dispatch Method field is ZD-Append, then the
Destination field must be the location of a single file to which the data
should be appended (The path is relative to the Document Root that is set in
the configuration file, see
Doc Root and User Dir). The file named
should have file permissions set appropriately such that Zot-Dispatch (the
server) can write to it.
Examples:
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=ZD-Method
VALUE="ZD-Append;/indiv/lmegliol/append.file;Template">
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=ZD-Method
VALUE="ZD-Append;~lmegliol/append.file;Template">
In the first example, the response data would be appended to the file
/indiv/lmegliol/public_html/append.file relative to the directory set as
the Document Root (In this case the Document Root is set to /Web/doc so the
full path to the file is /Web/doc/indiv/lmegliol/public_html/append.file), and
in the second example, the response data would be appended to the file
~lmegliol/append.file (This file is translated the same as is done in the NCSA
httpd server, see Doc Root and User Dir).
ZD-Reflect
If the Dispatch Method field of ZD-Method is
ZD-Reflect then the Destination field will not contain
the destination of the response (since it will always be the user's client),
but rather it will be information regarding the form in which the response is
returned to the client. These topics are best left until the basics of
ZD-Method are fully understood.
A more in depth discussion of the Destination field with regards to
ZD-Reflect is presented in the section
Zot-Dispatch: More on ZD-Reflect.
ZD-Method hidden element specifies
the format in which the response data should be dispatched. The default is for
Zot-Dispatch to return the default
response (a listing of name=value pairs). Otherwise, a template (plain text
marked up so that into it input values can be substituted) can be specified.
The details of writing a template are discussed in the section entitiled Zot-Dispatch: Templates which you can read now if desired, but isn't necessary until later.
A template is specified currently in one of three ways:
body:)body: followed by the text of
the template.
Examples:
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=ZD-Method
VALUE="ZD-Mail;lmegliol@uci.edu;body:This is a template.">
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=ZD-Method
VALUE="ZD-Append;~lmegliol/append.file;body:This is another simple template.">
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=ZD-Method
VALUE="ZD-Reflect;;body:This template data will go to the client.">
In a File (file:)file: followed by the name of the file in which the template is
contained (The path is relative to the Doc Root or is a User Dir).
Examples:
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=ZD-Method
VALUE="ZD-Mail;lmegliol@uci.edu;file:/indiv/lmegliol/template">
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=ZD-Method
VALUE="ZD-Append;../append.file;file:~lmegliol/template-file">
URL (http:)
Examples:
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=ZD-Method
VALUE="ZD-Mail;lmegliol@uci.edu;http://www.oac.uci.edu/indiv/lmegliol/template">
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=ZD-Method
VALUE="ZD-Append;~lmegliol/append.file;http://www.oac.uci.edu/indiv/lmegliol/template">
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=ZD-Method
VALUE="ZD-Reflect;;http://www.oac.uci.edu/indiv/lmegliol/template">
For each of these examples, Zot-Dispatch will retrieve the document, and use its
contents as the template.
Note:When the Dispatch Method field is ZD-Reflect
there are some other possible values that can be contained within the
template field. These other values are related to the values of the destination
field that have not yet been discussed. These topics will be discussed later
in the documentation.
Example 1
This first example of a form simply allows the user to input some text,
and when submitted, it reflects the
default response to the user.
<FORM METHOD=POST ACTION="http://www.oac.uci.edu/cgi-bin/zd-2.0.cgi">
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=ZD-Method VALUE="ZD-Reflect;;">
Enter some text: <INPUT TYPE=text NAME="input">
<INPUT TYPE=submit VALUE="Submit Text">
</FORM>
The form will appear to the user as:
Go ahead and try it, but use the "Back" command to return to this page if your
browser has one.
Example 2
This second example will append text you enter to a file only. Nothing will
be returned to the client so use the "Back" command on your browser to return
to this point if you have one.
<FORM METHOD=POST ACTION="http://www.oac.uci.edu/cgi-bin/zd-2.0.cgi">
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME=ZD-Method VALUE="ZD-Append;/X/W6/zd/2.0/ZD-2.0-Example2.append;">
Enter some text: <INPUT TYPE=text NAME="input" MAXLENGTH=80>
<INPUT TYPE=submit VALUE="Submit Text">
</FORM>
This form will appear to the user as:
Go ahead and try it. After you come back, take a look at the
file to which the data was appended.
Example 3
This third example shows how more than one ZD-Method hidden
element can be put in a form in order to do more things at once.
<FORM METHOD=POST ACTION="http://www.oac.uci.edu/cgi-bin/zd-2.0.cgi">
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME="ZD-Method" VALUE="ZD-Append;/X/W6/zd/2.0/ZD-2.0-Example2.append;">
<INPUT TYPE=hidden NAME="ZD-Method" VALUE="ZD-Reflect;;">
Enter some text: <INPUT TYPE=text NAME="input" MAXLENGTH=80>
<INPUT TYPE=submit VALUE="Submit Text">
</FORM>
This form will appear to the user as:
Go ahead and try it. This form will append to the same file as the previous
example, only this time the data that is appended will also be reflected to the
user's client. Take a look at the file to
which the data was appended.
If you have not yet read the document on
writing templates, we suggest you do
that now. Otherwise, go on to learn about substitution within the
ZD-Method element.
lmegliol@uci.edu)