Just some thoughts:
  1. $progid == "bush" should be $progid eq "bush"
  2. You need to untaint your variable $progid, follow the link to Ovids tutorial below for more info on CGI security.
  3. When you open the '$random_file' file you do not test whether it suceeded (see example)
  4. You have no else clause in your conditional block
  5. Try using use CGI::Carp qw(fatalsToBrowser); for debugging. See the CGI::Carp manpage for details.
  6. Use CGI to print your header. Don't do it manually.
  7. You redifine $/ but don't do it locally. Yes I know you are doing this to slurp files but you might find you aren't opening your other files properly (not knowing their content I couldn't say either way).
Your file opening code uses a variable to open the file 'random_file' but you declare it inside the open routine and never give it a value. Assuming its value is in 'bush.conf' then you need to remove the 'my'. An untested snippet would something like
# Assuming is set in bush.conf unless(open(FILE,"<$random_file")) { # Handle it gracefully } my @lines = <FILE>; close(FILE);
Or you could use $!:
open(FILE,"<$random_file") || die "Could not open file",$!;
Note that I have added a < to implicitly imply that I am opening the file. You might also want to consider the three argument form of open(). See the manpage for details.

And finally: Ovids course

In reply to Re: Errors in my (simple?) CGI Script! by simon.proctor
in thread Errors in my (simple?) CGI Script! by munchie

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