Copyright and Header
##############################################################################
# FormMail Version 1.7 #
# Copyright 1996-2001 Matt Wright mattw@worldwidemart.com #
# Created 06/09/95 Last Modified 07/27/01 #
# Matt's Script Archive, Inc.: http://www.worldwidemart.com/scripts/ #
##############################################################################
# If you run into any problems while trying to configure this scripts, help #
# is available. The steps you should take to get the fastest results, are: #
# 1) Read this file thoroughly. #
# 2) Consult the Matt's Script Archive Frequently Asked Questions: #
# http://www.worldwidemart.com/scripts/faq/ #
# 3) If you are still having difficulty installing this script, send #
# e-mail to: scripts-help@tahoenet.com #
# Include any error messages you are receiving and as much detail #
# as you can so we can spot your problem. Also include the variable#
# configuration block that is located at the top of the script. #
# #
# Hopefully we will be able to help you solve your problems. Thank you. #
##############################################################################
# COPYRIGHT NOTICE #
# Copyright 1995 - 2001 Matthew M. Wright All Rights Reserved. #
# #
# FormMail may be used and modified free of charge by anyone so long as this #
# copyright notice and the comments above remain intact. By using this #
# code you agree to indemnify Matthew M. Wright from any liability that #
# might arise from its use. #
# #
# Selling the code for this program without prior written consent is #
# expressly forbidden. In other words, please ask first before you try and #
# make money off of my program. #
# #
# Obtain permission before redistributing this software over the Internet or #
# in any other medium. In all cases copyright and header must remain intact #
##############################################################################
Overview
FormMail is a universal WWW form to E-mail gateway. There is
only one required form input tag which must be specified in order for
this script to work with your existing forms. Other hidden configuration
fields can also be used to enhance the operation of FormMail on your
site. Version 1.6 of FormMail contains a few minor bug fixes, optimized
code and more comments. The biggest change in this version is that by
default, form fields are now sorted as they appear in the form. Error
pages were also beautified a little and two new configuration fields
were created. Read the History for a more complete list of changes.
Version 1.7 was issued only for security fixes and will not affect the
current working of your forms, as long as the new variables are
appropriately filled into the code.
The script, FormMail.pl, needs to be placed in your server's cgi-bin
and the anonymous WWW user must have the ability to read/execute the
script. If you do not have access to your server's cgi-bin, yet you can
execute cgi scripts, you may want to try adding a .cgi extension to the
FormMail.pl, so you could rename it to FormMail.cgi.
Setting Up the FormMail Script
The FormMail.pl script does not have to be extensively configured in
order to work. There are only two variables in the perl file which you
will need to define along with changing the top line of your script to
match the location of you Perl interpreter.
Necessary Variables
- $mailprog =
'/usr/lib/sendmail';
- This variable must define the location to your server's sendmail
program. If this is incorrect, form results will not be mailed to
you.
- @referers =
('worldwidemart.com','206.31.72.203');
- This array allows you to define the domains that you will allow
forms to reside on and use your FormMail script. If a user tries to
put a form on another server, that is not worldwidemart.com, they
will receive an error message when someone tries to fill out their
form. By placing worldwidemart.com in the @referers array, this also
allows www.worldwidemart.com, ftp.worldwidemart.com, any other http
address with worldwidemart.com in it and worldwidemart.com's IP
address to access this script as well, so no users will be turned
away.
- @recipients = @referers;
- This is the most important variable you need to configure. It is
an array of all valid recipients that can be specified. In order for
a form to be submitted to the recipient defined in the form, the end
of the recipient e-mail address must match one of the elements in
the recipients field. For instance, as defined by default,
@recipients = @referers, which means @recipients holds
'worldwidemart.com' and '206.31.72.203' by default. If the recipient
form field is set to 'mattw@worldwidemart.com' or
'mattw@206.31.72.203' it will allow the e-mail to be sent. In fact,
the form could also be mailed to 'anyone@worldwidemart.com' or even
anyone@anotherworldwidemart.com' as 'worldwidemart.com' which is
defined in @recipients matches the end of both of those e-mail
addresses. The most secure way to operate FormMail is to explicitly
specify only those e-mail addresses allowed. For instance:
@recipients = ('^mattw@worldwidemart.com','^joe@worldwidemart.com');When
specifying a complete e-mail address you should place a ^ at the
beginning. FormMail automatically requires that the recipient form
field match the end of one of @recipients, but by adding a ^, you
are also telling the perl regular expression parser that it must
match the recipient form field exactly (^ signifies the beginning of
the field). So, if you were hosting two domains yourname.com and
someoneelse.com and wanted FormMail to be able to send to anyone at
yourname.com and only joe@someoneelse.com, you should set
@recipients to: @recipients = ('yourname.com','^joe@someoneelse.com');This
means that any form with the recipient set to anything@yourname.com
or joe@someoneelse.com will be sent successfully. By default
@recipients is set to @referers so that e-mail can be sent to any
domain the form can be submitted from. This is decent protection,
but for maximum protection you can hardcode in each e-mail address
that is allowed as a recipient. If you are familiar with perl
regular expressions, this is how these are checked and whatever is
entered in @recipients is required to match the end of the recipient
form field. So to allow e-mail to be sent to anyone on yourserver
with a username that is all letters, numbers or _, you could do: @recipients = ('^\w+@yourserver.com');If you are
unfamiliar with perl regular expressions, decent protection is to
just set @recipients to the domains you wish e-mail to be sent to.
- @valid_ENV =
('REMOTE_HOST','REMOTE_ADDR','REMOTE_USER','HTTP_USER_AGENT');
- This new array allows the administrator to specify a list of
environment variables that the user may request be added into the
e-mail. This is a security patch that was advised against at: http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/1187
and was implemented by Peter D. Thompson Yezek at http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/62033
Only environment variables listed in this array may be included in
the form field env_report. So if you wanted to also know what URL
they were submitting from, you could change @valid_ENV to:
@valid_ENV = ('REMOTE_HOST','REMOTE_ADDR','REMOTE_USER',
'HTTP_USER_AGENT','HTTP_REFERER');and
then include HTTP_REFERER in your env_report form field.
Your formmail program is now configured.
Form Configuration
The action of your form needs to point towards this script
(obviously), and the method must be POST or GET in capital letters.
Version 1.5 of FormMail offers many new ways to code your form to tailor
the resulting HTML page and the way the script performs. Below is a list
of form fields you can use and how to implement them.
Necessary Form Fields
There is only one form field that you must have in your
form, for FormMail to work correctly. This is the recipient field.
| Field: |
recipient
|
| Description: |
This form field allows you to specify to whom you wish for
your form results to be mailed. Most likely you will want to
configure this option as a hidden form field with a value equal
to that of your e-mail address.
|
| Syntax: |
<input type=hidden name="recipient"
value="email@your.host.com"> |
Optional Form Fields
| Field: |
subject
|
| Description: |
The subject field will allow you to specify the subject that
you wish to appear in the e-mail that is sent to you after this
form has been filled out. If you do not have this option turned
on, then the script will default to a message subject: WWW Form
Submission
|
| Syntax: |
If you wish to choose what the subject is: <input
type=hidden name="subject" value="Your Subject">
To allow the user to choose a subject: <input
type=text name="subject"> |
| Field: |
email
|
| Description: |
This form field will allow the user to specify their return
e-mail address. If you want to be able to return e-mail to your
user, I strongly suggest that you include this form field and
allow them to fill it in. This will be put into the From: field
of the message you receive. If you want to require an email
address with valid syntax, add this field name to the 'required'
field.
|
| Syntax: |
<input type=text
name="email"> |
| Field: |
realname
|
| Description: |
The realname form field will allow the user to input their
real name. This field is useful for identification purposes and
will also be put into the From: line of your message
header.
|
| Syntax: |
<input type=text
name="realname"> |
| Field: |
redirect
|
| Description: |
If you wish to redirect the user to a different URL, rather
than having them see the default response to the fill-out form,
you can use this hidden variable to send them to a pre-made HTML
page.
|
| Syntax: |
To choose the URL they will end up at: <input
type=hidden name="redirect"
value="http://your.host.com/to/file.html">
To allow them to specify a URL they wish to travel to once
the form is filled out: <input type=text
name="redirect"> |
| Field: |
required
|
| Version: |
1.3 & Up |
| Description: |
You can now require for certain fields in your form to be
filled in before the user can successfully submit the form.
Simply place all field names that you want to be mandatory into
this field. If the required fields are not filled in, the user
will be notified of what they need to fill in, and a link back
to the form they just submitted will be provided.
To use a customized error page, see
'missing_fields_redirect'
|
| Syntax: |
If you want to require that they fill in the email and phone
fields in your form, so that you can reach them once you have
received the mail, use a syntax like:
<input type=hidden name="required"
value="email,phone"> |
| Field: |
env_report
|
| Version: |
1.3 & Up |
| Description: |
Allows you to have Environment variables included in the
e-mail message you receive after a user has filled out your
form. Useful if you wish to know what browser they were using,
what domain they were coming from or any other attributes
associated with environment variables. The following is a short
list of valid environment variables that might be useful:
REMOTE_HOST - Sends the hostname making the
request.
REMOTE_ADDR - Sends the IP address of the
remote host making the request.
REMOTE_USER - If server supports authentication
and script is protected, this is
the username they have
authenticated as. *This is not
usually set.*
HTTP_USER_AGENT - The browser the client is using
to send the request.There are others,
but these are a few of the most useful. For more information on
environment variables, see:
The
CGI Resource Index: Documentation: Environment
Variables
|
| Syntax: |
If you wanted to find the remote host and browser sending
the request, you would put the following into your form:
<input type=hidden name="env_report"
value="REMOTE_HOST,HTTP_USER_AGENT"> |
| Field: |
sort
|
| Version: |
1.4 & Up |
| Description: |
This field allows you to choose the order in which you wish
for your variables to appear in the e-mail that FormMail
generates. You can choose to have the field sorted
alphabetically or specify a set order in which you want the
fields to appear in your mail message. By leaving this field
out, the order will simply default to the order in which the
browsers sends the information to the script (which is usually
the exact same order as they appeared in the form.) When sorting
by a set order of fields, you should include the phrase "order:"
as the first part of your value for the sort field, and then
follow that with the field names you want to be listed in the
e-mail message, separated by commas. Version 1.6 allows a little
more flexibility in the listing of ordered fields, in that you
can include spaces and line breaks in the field without it
messing up the sort. This is helpful when you have many form
fields and need to insert a line wrap.
|
| Syntax: |
To sort alphabetically:
<input type=hidden name="sort"
value="alphabetic">
To sort by a set field order:
<input type=hidden name="sort"
value="order:name1,name2,etc..."> |
| Field: |
print_config
|
| Version: |
1.5 & Up |
| Description: |
print_config allows you to specify which of the config
variables you would like to have printed in your e-mail message.
By default, no config fields are printed to your e-mail. This is
because the important form fields, like email, subject, etc. are
included in the header of the message. However some users have
asked for this option so they can have these fields printed in
the body of the message. The config fields that you wish to have
printed should be in the value attribute of your input tag
separated by commas.
|
| Syntax: |
If you want to print the email and subject fields in the
body of your message, you would place the following form tag:
<input type=hidden name="print_config"
value="email,subject"> |
| Field: |
print_blank_fields
|
| Version: |
1.6 |
| Description: |
print_blank_fields allows you to request that all form
fields are printed in the return HTML, regardless of whether or
not they were filled in. FormMail defaults to turning this off,
so that unused form fields aren't e-mailed.
|
| Syntax: |
If you want to print all blank fields: <input
type=hidden name="print_blank_fields"
value="1"> |
| Field: |
title
|
| Version: |
1.3 & Up |
| Description: |
This form field allows you to specify the title and header
that will appear on the resulting page if you do not specify a
redirect URL.
|
| Syntax: |
If you wanted a title of 'Feedback Form Results':
<input type=hidden name="title" value="Feedback Form
Results"> |
| Field: |
return_link_url
|
| Version: |
1.3 & Up |
| Description: |
This field allows you to specify a URL that will appear, as
return_link_title, on the following report page. This field will
not be used if you have the redirect field set, but it is useful
if you allow the user to receive the report on the following
page, but want to offer them a way to get back to your main
page.
|
| Syntax: |
<input type=hidden name="return_link_url"
value="http://your.host.com/main.html"> |
| Field: |
return_link_title
|
| Version: |
1.3 & Up |
| Description: |
This is the title that will be used to link the user back to
the page you specify with return_link_url. The two fields will
be shown on the resulting form page as:
|
| Syntax: |
<input type=hidden name="return_link_title"
value="Back to Main Page"> |
| Field: |
missing_fields_redirect
|
| Version: |
1.6 |
| Description: |
This form field allows you to specify a URL that users will
be redirected to if there are fields listed in the required form
field that are not filled in. This is so you can customize an
error page instead of displaying the default. |
| Syntax: |
<input type=hidden name="missing_fields_redirect"
value="http://your.host.com/error.html"> |
| Field: |
background
|
| Version: |
1.3 & Up |
| Description: |
This form field allow you to specify a background image that
will appear if you do not have the redirect field set. This
image will appear as the background to the form results
page.
|
| Syntax: |
<input type=hidden name="background"
value="http://your.host.xxx/image.gif"> |
| Field: |
bgcolor
|
| Version: |
1.3 & Up |
| Description: |
This form field allow you to specify a bgcolor for the form
results page in much the way you specify a background image.
This field should not be set if the redirect field is.
|
| Syntax: |
For a background color of White:
<input type=hidden name="bgcolor"
value="#FFFFFF"> |
| Field: |
text_color
|
| Version: |
1.3 & Up |
| Description: |
This field works in the same way as bgcolor, except that it
will change the color of your text.
|
| Syntax: |
For a text color of Black:
<input type=hidden name="text_color"
value="#000000"> |
| Field: |
link_color
|
| Version: |
1.3 & Up |
| Description: |
Changes the color of links on the resulting page. Works in
the same way as text_color. Should not be defined if redirect
is.
|
| Syntax: |
For a link color of Red:
<input type=hidden name="link_color"
value="#FF0000"> |
| Field: |
vlink_color
|
| Version: |
1.3 & Up |
| Description: |
Changes the color of visited links on the resulting page.
Works exactly the same as link_color. Should not be set if
redirect is.
|
| Syntax: |
For a visited link color of Blue:
<input type=hidden name="vlink_color"
value="#0000FF"> |
| Field: |
alink_color
|
| Version: |
1.4 & Up |
| Description: |
Changes the color of active links on the resulting page.
Works exactly the same as link_color. Should not be set if
redirect is.
|
| Syntax: |
For a active link color of Blue:
<input type=hidden name="alink_color"
value="#0000FF"> |
Any other form fields that appear in your script will be mailed back
to you and displayed on the resulting page if you do not have the
redirect field set. There is no limit as to how many other form fields
you can use with this form, except the limits imposed by browsers and
your server.
Some of the possible uses of this script
- You want to have a form that will be mailed to you, but aren't sure
how to write the CGI script for it.
- You are the webmaster of your site and want to allow users to use
forms, but not to have their own cgi-bin directories, which can cause
security risks to your system. You can set this script up and then allow
all users to run off of it.
- Want to have one script to parse all of your html forms and mail
them to you.
History
Version 1.0 06/11/95 - This script was created.
Version 1.1 08/03/95 - A major hole in the script which allowed
users to run commands under your server's
uid was disabled, thanks to Paul Phillips
who noticed the error.
- The ability to redirect the user to a
specified HTML file after they filled
out a form was added.
Version 1.2 09/23/95 - If the form field is one of the required
or optional 'special' fields, such as
redirect, recipient, subject, email,
realname, etc... the script will not
print these fields to either your mail
message or to the user's screen when they
are returned to a generic form response.
It helps you so that things do not get
duplicated.
Version 1.3 01/21/96 - Much needed update finally completed
- Added form fields: env_report, bgcolor,
background, link_color, vlink_color,
title, text_color, return_link_title,
return_link_title, and required.
- Security hole, which allowed any user on
any system to bum off of your formmail
script, has been plugged up with the
@referers variable.
- Report style in return html and e-mail
touched up a bit.
Version 1.4 01/23/96 - Added options: sort, alink_color
- Fixed a few bugs from Version 1.3, namely
the fact that the link_colors weren't
working well.
- FormMail now supports both the GET and
POST methods.
Version 1.5 02/05/96 - Sorting of Fields in E-Mail Response
Fixed.
- print_config option added.
Version 1.6 05/02/97 - Sorting of fields by default was fixed to
now sort in the order the fields are
passed to FormMail from the web browser,
which is usually the same order as they
appear in the HTML form.
- The sort order: directive, env_report and
print_config parsing routines were made
to better compensate for line breaks and
extra spaces in input for ease of use.
- Redirect error causing the redirect
option to incorrectly work with https
(secure servers) was fixed.
- Output of non-filled in form fields
suppressed.
- E-mail addresses checked for correct
syntax if designated a required field.
- Fields only printed if they contain a
value or if the print_blank_fields option
is set to 1.
- missing_fields_redirect added so you can
route users who don't completely fill out
the form to a pre-made HTML page.
- Parts of code optimized, especially in
respect to the way config variables are
handled.
Matt Wright - mattw@worldwidemart.com ©
1995 - 1998 Matt's Script Archive, Inc. |