#BEGIN .htaccess

   #I have tried setting it as a Handler
   # -> All this did was cause the SSI
   #    to not work.

Action set-cart /cart/setcart.pl
AddHandler setcart .shtml

  # I have also tried using mod-rewrite,
  # sending all .shtml requests to the
  # script 1st, then back to their original
  # destination.


#RewriteEngine  on
# pre-process all requests with setcart.pl
    #    RewriteCond  %{ENV: REQ_URL}      !$1    [NC]
    #RewriteRule      ^(.*)$  /cart/setcart.pl    [E=REQ_URL:$1,NS,L]

   # (Ofcourse I tried one at a time, hence
   # the commented-out Rewrite.


#END .htaccess

#BEGIN setcart.pl

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
# perl error reporting switches
#    -c = check the code for syntax errors
#    -w = "use warnings" and tells the interpreter to produce useful d
+iagnostics
#    -T = "taint mode" which adds security internal to Perl
#

use strict;
use vars qw($script_name $query $template $raw_cookie $totalvalue
            $itemt $subt $grandt $ouncest $shippingt
            @Cookie
            &CookieCheck &GetCookies &SetCookies);
use CGI qw/-no_xhtml :standard/;
use CGI::Cookie;
use CGI::Carp qw(fatalsToBrowser);
    $CGI::POST_MAX=1024 * 100;    # max 100K posts
    $CGI::DISABLE_UPLOADS = 1;    # no uploads

############### COOKIE STRATEGY #########################
# 4 cookies manage cart info
#    "total" is the main cookie set right away, it has
#        "itemt"        = number of total items in cart
#        "subt"        = total cost minus shipping cost and tax
#        "grandt"    = total cost plus shipping cost and tax
#        "ouncest"    = total shipping weight in ounces
#        "shippingt"    = total cost of shipping for order
#    "itemprice" holds the numerical data of the order
#        "itemnum"    = the item number itself
#        "itemqty"    = the quantity requested for the item
#        "baseprice"    = the retail price of the smallest item in its
+ set
#        "upsizeamt"    = the cost added ontop the base price for larg
+er items
#    "details" holds the descriptive information for a particular item
#        "isize"        = the requested item size
#        "icolor"    = the requested item color
#        "istyle"    = the requested item style
#        "iounces"    = the shipping weight for item in ounces
#    "itemtitle" holds the descriptive title of the requested items
#        "ititle"    = the descriptive title of the requested items
# Each cookie will have it's data packed into a semicolon seperated sc
+alar
# Note: I will later need to add handling for maximum cookie length to
+ branch
#        into multiple cookies if there is a very large order.
#########################################################

############### SCRIPT STARTS HERE ######################
$script_name = "setcart.pl";
$query = new CGI;

&CookieCheck;

sub CookieCheck {
    # check for default cookie "total"
    if (GetCookies('total')) {
        # if total exists, get it's current values for "itemt" and "gr
+andt"
        my $rawvalue = pop(@Cookie);
        ($itemt, $subt, $grandt, $ouncest, $shippingt) = split(/;/, $r
+awvalue);

                        # This goes with the Rewrite attempt
            #print $query->redirect(-uri=>'$ENV{'REQ_URL'}'), "\n\n"; 
+   
    } else {     
        # Set total to default zero values
        # In this order: itemt, subt, grandt, ouncest, shippingt
        $totalvalue = "0;0.00;0.00;0;0.00;";
        SetCookies('total',$totalvalue);
        # Now do a check to make sure the cookie was set
        if (GetCookies('total')) {
            # if total exists, get it's current values for "itemt" and
+ "grandt"
            my $rawvalue = pop(@Cookie);
            ($itemt, $subt, $grandt, $ouncest, $shippingt) = split(/;/
+, $rawvalue);

                        # This goes with the Rewrite attempt
            #print $query->redirect(-uri=>'$ENV{'REQ_URL'}'), "\n\n";
        } else {
            # Other wise redirect to "Cookies are Required" page
            print $query->redirect(-uri=>/cookiereq.html'), "\n\n";
        }
    }
}

sub SetCookies {
    my (%input) = @_;
    while( my($name,$value) = each %input )
    {
        my $c = CGI->cookie (
                             -name    => $name,
                             -value   => $value);
        print "Set-Cookie: ", $c, "\n";
    }
}

sub GetCookies {
    my @cookies = @_;
    my $exists = 0;
    foreach my $name (@cookies) {
        if (defined CGI->cookie($name)) {
            my $value = CGI->cookie($name);
            push(@Cookie,$name,$value);
            $exists = 1 if $value;
        }
    }
    return $exists;
}
[download]

I had been using the London Perl Monger's version of cookie.lib, but had enough monk questions about why/what and objections of displeasure that I figured out how to do without it.

I am also aware of merlyn's take on using cookies like this, and I agree, but consider this as an exercise so I may learn the how's of some of the things I am trying to do here. And while the example used here is using cookies, I am sure there are other things which I (and other monks) may want to do with perl scripts that could be processed before the HTTP Headers of a static .html or .shtml page are served. (And please, dont bother recommending PHP.)

20030530 Edit by Corion: Added readmore tag