This solution would suffer, if multiple requests come in at the same time (assume the process runs on server). Well, you can carefully make the processes running in sequence, but this is not always desirable.

Update:

This post is actually not about tilly's reply, as his reply obviously provided a correct answer to the direct question itself, so don't mis-interprete this post.

I don't understand what you are trying to refer to.

The question was how to set environment variables when the Perl script was not being wrapped by a .bat file that set them. I answered that question.

Larger questions of how to handle multiple requests at a time I can't answer without knowing a lot more about the environment that he is talking about.

This post is actually not about tilly's reply, as his reply obviously provided a correct answer to the direct question itself, so don't mis-interprete this post.

Then why did you reply to tilly's post?

Using environment variables to pass parameters was right, when you run your scripts in a batch mode as your company did before, but it is no longer a good solution, especially with data that is so dynamic (different from request to request).

You can run scripts sequentially, but in a web application environment, response time to each user is usually quite sensitive. Believe me, very soon some user will start to yell at you.

To be frank, whoever did the analysis and design missed something really important, and you are entitled to have more time to make things right with one punch.

(I wish I didn't put that comment under tilly's post, as tilly was just trying to answer the direct question, and obviously his answer was correct. Well, that happens...)

Your post does not contain enough information to allow us to help you.

...these scripts have been running very well from the command line....

...the batch file does not run as it does in the command line...

Archetypically, differences between the runtime behaviour of scripts running from the command line and the same scripts being run from a webserver are due to the fact that the userid used by the webserver does not have the same rights accorded it as the real user running it from the command line. VSS with try to authenticate the user running it, and unless you have given the userid that your websever runs as the appropriate authorisations to act as a proxy for everyone that will use the web-based version of the script, VSS will reject the attempts to obtain information, much less commit changes.

...it does not take the values I pass from the html...

You don't show us how you are invoking the batch file from your CGi script, so our attempting to work out why the parameters are not making their way into the batch file correctly is impossible.

As others have pointed out, it would be entirely possible to set the environment variables required by CSS directly within your perl script prior to invoking VSS as a child process and avoid one level of indirection, but unless it is possible (and safe!) to grant the webserver runtime account the appropriate authority to act as a proxy for the users invoking the CGI, you aren't going to achieve your goal.