Help with finding the wrong code

YKTC has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hello and a Merry Christmas to you and yours.
I am Joe Stephens, of YKTC.US (YOUR KEY TO COLLECTIBLES)
I have an auction/classifieds web site,
http://www.yktc.us/cgi-bin/auction/auction.pl
that I obtained in 2005.

Written in CGI-PERL, I write mostly in html, and had a guy doing some work for me this pass year. He is gone now, many reasons. But before he left he changed the online file code of the above, all the back up files - even the two original files stored on sticks.

I have attempted to go back to the source/s (Super-Bargains.com) of the code to see it we could get another copy - seller no longer in business, the listed writer - he (Rohitab Batra) tells me he never wrote such a program. Nor can I find one just like it on the net.

I have attempted to find what was done to the code, check each page of the script, against one to the other, to see if I could find what he did.

I have taken 'parts' of each code and 'loaded' it on the server to see I that would help - well no, it did not for the most part as it may give me some part of a working program, but lose another. Also checking permission code and loading , ASCII or BASIC

I have attempted to 'change it' on the server (Blue Host - using their editors - while they have a great service center, they are not into programming), rather than up load it - same thing - try as I might, I just can not get the program to work the way it is to.

Okay - you write cgi-perl, would YOU like to attempt to see if you could get the program to work, or know of someone who would like to 'give it a try'. I need some help with this while not a very large 'company', just me and the wife now.

We had hoped that we could offer want those 'big' guys do for a lot less - but with the 'fall' of our auction/classifieds program - all the rest of the files we have on the net, mean almost nothing.

I would be happy to transmit you the program, one that is almost like the first one we received, to see if you could find the changes, to put it back on track.

Thank you for any help you can give us.
Joe Stephens
Your Key To Collectibles
http://yktc.us
joe@yktc.us

Comment on Help with finding the wrong code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Help with finding the wrong code by marto (Cardinal) on Dec 17, 2012 at 21:26 UTC
I sympathise with your situation, however this isn't a jobs board or a code writing service. http://jobs.perl.org.	[reply]
Re: Help with finding the wrong code by SuicideJunkie (Vicar) on Dec 17, 2012 at 21:30 UTC
It sounds like you did not have a repository to roll back the last changes from. That would be a good idea in the future. It also sounds like you can't trust the existing code base even aside from the errors. Perhaps it would be best to do a rewrite, using the old scripts only as reference?	[reply]
Re: Help with finding the wrong code by CountZero (Bishop) on Dec 17, 2012 at 23:11 UTC
Code from unknown provenance, changed in unknown ways and now no longer working. I think you will be better off starting again from scratch. There are great web-site frameworks in Perl (Catalyst, Dancer, ...) that make it not too difficult to put something together quickly. CountZero A program should be light and agile, its subroutines connected like a string of pearls. The spirit and intent of the program should be retained throughout. There should be neither too little or too much, neither needless loops nor useless variables, neither lack of structure nor overwhelming rigidity." - The Tao of Programming, 4.1 - Geoffrey James My blog: Imperial Deltronics	[reply]