# If the form was properly submitted, save the data
if ($input{"go"} eq "DELETE") {

<form method="post" onsubmit="return confirm('Do you really want to de
+lete?');">

$query = "DELETE
          FROM 
              \"Employees\" 
          WHERE 
              \"EmployeeID\"="." \'$input{empid}\'";

$db_handle -> do($query);
$action = "Record saved - $query";
....
[download]

Scalar found where operator expected at delemp.pl line 73, near "$quer
+y"
    (Missing semicolon on previous line?)
syntax error at delemp.pl line 73, near "$query "
[download]

As poj said, this:

<form method="post" onsubmit="return confirm('Do you really want to de
+lete?');">
[download]

isn't Perl. You'd want to put this into your HTML, replacing this line:

<form method=POST>
[download]

Also see window.confirm on the MDN.

Another option is to add a step with another form and hidden fields. Refactored it would look something like this.

#!/usr/local/bin/perl
use strict;
use CGI;
use CGI::Carp 'fatalsToBrowser'; #remove for prod
use DBI;

# get form parameters
my $q = new CGI;
my $action = $q->param('go');
my $empid  = $q->param('empid');

my $dbh = dbh(); # connect to db
$dbh->do("SET search_path to northwind") or die;

# If the confirm form was properly submitted, delete the record
my $msg;
# change validation to suit
if ( ($action eq "Confirm Delete") && ($empid =~ /\d+/)) {
  my $sql = qq! DELETE FROM "Employees" 
                WHERE "EmployeeID" = ? !;
               
  my $count = $dbh->do( $sql,undef,$empid );
  $msg = "$count Record deleted - $sql, $empid";
} else {
  $msg = "Please complete form";
}

# get employees
my $sql = qq!SELECT "EmployeeID" AS empid, 
             "FirstName"::text || ' ' ||"LastName"::text AS name 
             FROM "Employees" !;
my $ar = $dbh->selectall_arrayref($sql);

# Make up a pulldown menu 
my $options = qq!<option value="">select name</option>!;
for my $row (@$ar) {
  $options .= qq!<option value="$row->[0]">$row->[1]</option>\n!;
}

# build html page
my $style = q!
  body { background-color: pink ; color: #3300cc; }
  .container { width: 500px; clear: both; }
  .container input { width: 100%; clear: both;}
!;

# Send out the header and form
print $q->header;
print $q->start_html(-title=>'Delete an employee record',
                     -style=>{ -code=>$style } );
print qq!<h1 style="color:3300CC">Delete an employee</h1>!;

 # confirm delete form
if ( $action eq "DELETE" ) {
  print qq!<h3>Are you sure you want to delete $empid ?</h3>
      <form action="" method="post">
        <input type="hidden" name="empid" value="$empid"/>
        <input type="submit" name="go" value="Confirm Delete"/>
        <input type="submit" name="go" value="Cancel"/>
      </form>!;
} else {
  print qq!<div class="container">
  Select Employee name to delete :
<form method="post" action="">
  <select name="empid"> $options </select><br/>
  <input type="submit" name="go" value="DELETE"/>
</form></div><hr/>!;
 
  # Standard links to the rest of the application
  print <<"FOOTER";
<b>$msg</b>
<hr/>
Jump to - <a href="emp2.pl">View Employees Listing</a><br/>
Jump to - <a href="addemp.pl">Add an Employee</a><br/>
Jump to - <a href="updatephoto.pl">Add or update Employee Photo</a><br
+/>
<hr/>
Edited by Terry on July, 06 2014.
FOOTER
}
print $q->end_html;

# connect to database
sub dbh {
  my $dsn = 'DBI:Pg:dbname=northwind;host=localhost';
  my $user = '***';
  my $pwd  = '***';
  my $dbh = DBI -> connect($dsn,$user,$pwd,{'RaiseError' => 1});
  return $dbh;
}
[download]

poj

Hi Poj, This is absolutely marvelous, excellent code, works like a charm. Thank you very very much, I do appreciate your kind help all the time. Rgds Terry