> I'm new to perl too, but I think I can help.
Sometimes a dangerous thought... ;>
> As far as I can tell, perlscript is embeded
> right into an HTML file the same way you
> do VBScript or JavaScript
If you have a web server set up appropriately
to allow this, this is true.
There are multiple alternatives to setup a server
this way: Embperl, Perlscript, Mason, ...
The setup can be by the server's sysadmin, so
all users of the web server can do this. Or, for
at least Mason, it can be set up by an individual
user independent of the sysadmin.
So, in summary, we now have TWO fundamentally
different ways of perl being invoked:
1. At a shell prompt as a general purpose
programming language.
2. Embedded within web pages.
BUT
Very few web servers are set up to allow perl
to be embedded this way.
I'm pretty sure the vast majority of people do
their first Perl scripts as a CGI program. This
is a THIRD fundamentally different way for perl
to be invoked.
The sysadmin of your web server needs to give
you at least some of the details you need to do
either of the web server methods, embedded
(if your server supports it) or regular CGI. I'd
start by asking the sysadmin (your ISP will be
able to help if your server is from an ISP).
Once you have info from your sysadmin/ISP,
I suggest you post to the beginners-cgi list
for further help.
hth
