Using perl to learn HTML forms

I followed my book and I -

1 - Installed Abyss Web server, personal edition.

2 - Copied the book's echo.pl file to the htdocs folder of the webserver. Restarted the webserver.

3 - Installed Active Perl. (Actually, it was there already. I don't know who put it.)

When I visit the link - http://localhost/echo.pl, I either see the perl file (internet explorer) or download the perl file (chrome). I want this script to handle all requests from my HTML forms. How do I do this ?

Thanks.

Solution

I just got lucky. I had no clue what to do. I was wandering in their website to read a bit about them. I wondered who would use this obscure web server when there is apache. Luckily, I saw a section "help & support". There, I saw Scripting languages support and perl was mentioned in the list. I clicked the link and got the instructions for my windows system. Here it is - http://www.aprelium.com/abyssws/perl.html

Download and install Perl

Download ActivePerl from http://www.activestate.com/Products/ActivePerl and install it.
Declare the interpreter

Open Abyss Web Server's console. In the Hosts table, press Configure in the row corresponding to the host to which you want to add Perl support.
If there is no Hosts table in the main screen of your console, this means that you are using an old version of Abyss Web Server. Please upgrade to the latest version before proceeding. Upgrading is free, straightforward, and preserves your current server configuration. Click here to download the latest version.

Select Scripting Parameters.
Check Enable Scripts Execution.
Press Add in the Interpreters table.
Set Interface to CGI/ISAPI.
Note that if you do not find an Interface field, you can ignore this step and continue with the following instructions.

In the Interpreter field, press Browse..., go to the directory where you have installed Perl, click on the bin subdirectory, and click on perl.exe.
Check Use the associated extensions to automatically update the Script Paths.
Press Add in the Associated Extensions table.
Enter pl in the Extension field and press OK.
Press again Add in the Associated Extensions table.
Enter cgi in the Extension field and press OK.
Press OK
Press OK in the Scripting Parameters dialog.
Declare new index files

Select Index Files.
Press Add in the Index Files table.
Enter index.pl in the File Name field and press OK.
Press again Add in the Index Files table.
Enter index.cgi in the File Name field and press OK.
Apply the modifications

Press Restart to restart the server.