Thanks very much, Kent, So it seems that directory /cgi-bin should be a subdirectory to that directory from which the web server was started/is running. That worked and Deitel's script - getting time displayed finally worked.
still banging mu head with Wesley Chun's simple example - #!C:\python25\python.exe import cgi reshtml = '''Content-Type: text/html\n <HTML><HEAD><TITLE> Friends CGI Demo (dynamic screen) </TITLE></HEAD> <BODY><H3>Friends list for: <I>%s</I></H3> Your name is: <B>%s</B><P> You have <B>%s</B> friends. </BODY></HTML>''' form = cgi.FieldStorage() who = form['person'].value howmany = form['howmany'].value print reshtml % (who, who, howmany) It gives me the following error: Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:\Cgi-bin\friends1.py", line 15, in <module> who = form['person'].value File "C:\Python25\lib\cgi.py", line 567, in __getitem__ raise KeyError, key KeyError: 'person' I understand python is saying that there is no such a key in a directory. The HTML form looks like this. it is displayed correctly both in FF and IE <HTML><HEAD><TITLE> Friends CGI Demo (static screen) </TITLE></HEAD> <BODY><H3>Friends list for: <I>NEW USER</I></H3> <FORM ACTION="/cgi-bin/friends1.py"> <B>Enter your Name:</B> <INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="person" VALUE="NEW USER" SIZE=15> <P><B>How many friends do you have?</B> <INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="howmany" VALUE="0" CHECKED> 0 <INPUT TYPE=radio NAME="howmany" VALUE="10"> 10 <INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="howmany" VALUE="25"> 25 <INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="howmany" VALUE="50"> 50 <INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="howmany" VALUE="100"> 100 <P><INPUT TYPE="submit"></FORM></BODY></HTML> Thanks again, Aivars 2008/10/24 Kent Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > On Fri, Oct 24, 2008 at 10:25 AM, aivars <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Hello, >> >> I am learning python. >> >> I start the python CGI server like this: >> >> python -m CGIHTTPServer (this syntax I saw in Wesley Chun's Core >> Python Programming chapter 20.5) >> >> The server starts in command prompt on windows XP by answering: >> Serving HTTP on 0.0.0.0 port 8000... >> >> Next I want to run this simple CGI script (from Deitel Python How to >> Program chapter 6). it is supposed to print out current date and time >> in a browser > > The CGI script should me in a /cgi-bin subdirectory of the dir where > you run the script. The URL to run the CGI will then be something like > http:://localhost:8000/cgi-bin/myscript.py > > Kent > _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor