Troubleshooting Server-Side Problems

Below is a list of suggestions you might find helpful in troubleshooting web problems:

1. Make sure Perl is working. Use our Test1.pl. If it doesn't work, contact your system administrator.

2. Make sure that the path on the first line of the script (ciwweb.pl and admin.pl) is the correct path to your Perl executable. We have set the path at the most common directory for the Perl interpreter [sometimes called the Perl executable] which is: /usr/bin/perl. Another common location is /usr/local/bin/perl. Consult the Web server administrator if you don't know the correct path.)

3. When uploading your files, make sure you upload them in "binary" mode so that the number of bytes in the files do not differ between your machine and the server.

4. Unix servers are case sensitive when it comes to filenames. Make sure that the case on your filenames matches. We'd suggest using all lower case names. It is a good idea to make your study names all lower case.

5. Make sure you set the permissions correctly on the files (see our documentation for details). The admin and data directories need "read," "write," and "delete" permissions so we can store data, etc.. When troubleshooting, you can enable full permissions. Once it is working, you can tighten your permissions.

6. Don't use Microsoft's Front Page to upload. It often inserts extra HTML instructions that can conflict with the HTML instructions SSI Web automatically creates.

7. Some ISPs or web servers require a special subdirectory where Perl scripts can run. Find out from your ISP what their rules are for running Perl scripts. Also, some servers provide added protection for files with an extension of .cgi. This is why many of our files have this extension even though not all of them are CGI scripts. If you use a directory other than cgi-bin, make sure you update this information in your server directory paths under Advanced Settings.

8. Some servers, including many NT servers, require alternate setups that are different from our default procedure. In these cases, you might need to change the paths in Advanced Settings. Under the File | Study Settings | Advanced, you can modify the system paths.

When changing the paths under Advanced Settings, the five paths are as follows:

Administrative Directory:

Path from where the Perl files are running to the /admin directory

CGI Scripts Directory:

Path from STUDYNAMElogn.htm and STUDYNAMEadmn.htm to the directory that contains ciwweb.pl and admin.pl

Data Directory:

Path from where the Perl files are running to the /data directory

Relative Path from

CGI Scripts to Graphics:

Path from where Perl scripts are running to the /graphics directory

Relative Path from

logn.htm to Graphics:

Path from STUDYNAMElogn.htm to the /graphics directory

9. If you have changed the default directory structure, you may need to move the file STUDYNAMEpath.cgi to the same directory as the Perl files so the scripts can find it. Here are the search paths for STUDYNAMEpath.cgi from the directory from which the Perl scripts are running:

../admin/

If not found in ../admin/, then it looks for the STUDYNAMEpath.cgi in:

current directory (where Perl scripts are running)

If not found there, it looks for:

current directory/studyname/admin

If not found there, it looks for the STUDYNAMEpath.cgi in:

../studyname/admin/

10. If you want to delete all the respondent data up on the web that is associated with a study, go to the admin.htm and choose Reset Survey.

SSI Web Perl test scripts

If you are experiencing difficulty in getting your questionnaire to run on the web, it may be helpful to troubleshoot the problem by using very simple Perl scripts. You can find these scripts in your \Resources directory in your SSI Web installation. Once these 2 test scripts run successfully, your SSI Web survey will also have a very good chance of running successfully.

Upload the test script to your cgi-bin and test it by opening up a browser and going to http://www.yourfile.com/cgi-bin/test1.pl.

TEST1.PL - simply tests Perl linkage. A debug test message is written ("Debug Test #1 Successful") if Perl is installed correctly and permissions are set correctly.

Failure here would mean that the Perl interpreter is not being called and executed. You can check for the correct path to the interpreter on the first line of the script and that Perl has been installed on the machine. You can also check the permissions on the script to make sure it has "executable" permission. If you are still having problems, call your ISP and explain that you need help running a simple "hello world" Perl script.

Test2.pl - Helps you determine where your current working directory for Perl is.