AGORA.CGI History Log (Newest to oldest) *************************************************************************** Version 4.0 (10-Nov-2001) Changes to manager database import/export routines and updates to the agora flatfile database library. Added the 'relay' form item check to enhance ragora.cgi wrapper alternative program. Fixed the agora order lib to display names on text of cart properly. Changed the major gateway order libs so the email return address for 'admin' emails is the 'site admin' email (to hopefully make mailing the actual order to multiple emails work better.) Moved a few procedures out of agora.cgi and into the order lib. Changed much of the code so that is is only compiled on demand, and if the code generates a compilation error then it is logged with agora instead of just in the 'server logs'. Added a new email library that uses the more modern "Mail::Sendmail" perl module that may be optionally used in the event that sendmail is not available on your system. Cart now only adds 'one' of anything, if a second addition is made then the quantity is adjusted. Also, the cart is now sorted when written to disk (and thus when displayed) by the cart row fields between the quantity and unique identifier. Updated load_cart_copy routine and added save_cart_copy routine. Shims have been updated for use of 4.0 routines and libraries. All manager 'ext' files should be compatable with 3.3j or earlier with the proper shim(s) loaded. *************************************************************************** Version 3.3j (18-Sep-2001) Changes to sample store -- search in header now searches on word boundaries using exact_match=on, and the category agorascript on the frontpage uses it as well (xm= same as exact_match.) Updated Offline gateway to fix check processing. Added manager support for large databases. Flatfile database library updated to sort results of searches by key id. Gateway management removed from inside the manager code and agora.cgi itself, execution is now via code hooks. Upgrades to gateways are simplified. Also, many manager functions are now in extension files. A 'shim' is being made available to pro forum members to bring 3.3d-3.3i managers up to 3.3j specs if someone does not want to simply update the entire manager. New manager extensions will operate on the older managers with the shim loaded. A shim for the main program is also available to pro forum members. Item options are now shown in a sorted order on the screen, and are placed in the cart that way. If you have more than 9 options, consider using numbers with leading zero(s) and a fixed length (say 2 characters) so the sort order will be preserved. The value of each box in the SBW module is now tracked in the 'shipping thing' string. Added %%eval()%% to html pages. There are now 'virtual fields' routines! They are used for display of shopping cart items in email and the web, but can be used in other places as well. Added @db and @cart arrays that describe the data field names, similar to the %db and %cart variables. *************************************************************************** Version 3.3i (h,g were pre-release test versions) (23-APR-2001) Updated manager to default to single login mode if cookies are not enabled in the manager.cgi program or the cookie settings are incorrect. Scrambling of the CC info on local disk is now configureable from the manager (Offline lib is the only standard lib that uses it at this time). Added umask 0077 code to upgrade security on files being written to by the cart and manager, force umask 0022 for writing of .htaccess and manager.access files. Fixed the manager bug whereby the '*' was accidently incorporated into new products. *************************************************************************** Version 3.3f (20-JAN-2001) Manager was updated to allow multiple simultaneous users from different IP addresses. The "*" char is now used to denote that a record ID should determined once editing has been submitted byt the web browser. This is used for "add" as well as "edit" of product database records. The "*" can be used by itself as the only part of the ID, or at the end of the ID. Clearing the order log does not check for simultaneous persons viewing and clearing the log, be careful! Various speed enhancements, no bug fixes from 3.3e. Some routines were moved into the order lib from the html lib so that the cart runs faster. *************************************************************************** Version 3.3e (08-JAN-2001) Added IP tracking and "reload protection" on order forms. *************************************************************************** Version 3.3d (07-JAN-2001) Added the %%eval()%% token for product page inc files. Changed the manager so that the agora_user_lib.pl has sections to it. The old cart and pgp user libs are no longer required as separate files. It is now much easier to manage smaller sections of the configuration, and there is less startup IO with less files. To add a custom, user managed settings section in the agora_user_lib.pl file you should name your section starting with the letter X and put it at the bottom of the file just above the 1; part. For example, until the manager handles custom taxes you may want to edit them yourself: #:#:#: start XCUSTOM_TAX settings $sc_extra_tax1_logic='(0.04)*$subtotal'; $sc_extra_tax1_name='Philly Tax'; #:#:#: end XCUSTOM_TAX settings 1; Each time the agora_user_lib.pl file is updated by the manager the section names will be "upcased" and sorted in alphabetical order. Added verification to the option files. Added ability to view the order log in the manager. If an order comes in after "view order log" but before "clear order log", then the new order will still be in the log. *************************************************************************** Version 3.3c (19-DEC-2000) Added the $eform_xxx and $eform{xxx} style vales to complement the $vform_xxx and $vform{xxx} vars (xxx is any form data variable). The eform vars have single and double quotes escaped to " for display on web pages. The vform vars should always be used for data processing. Updated the agorascript processing. Cart footers processing updated. Added 5 new fields to the cart itself (i.e. old carts in the shopping carts directory are obsolete!) The numbers of the options ordered are maintained, and there are three user fields in the cart itself. There is also a flag that can be used for special shipping calculations, eventually it will be integrated with the SBW module. Fixed pad length in the manager. Set it to 4 for 1000-9999 products in the catalog, or 5 for 10000 to 99999 products, etc. A safe number is probably 4 or 5. Set it to 0 to not pad the product id #'s with leading zeros. Removed support for PayPal. Their support and interface were too unreliable for inclusion here. There are plenty of hacks out there for use with PayPal, check commerce.cgi support forum in addition to the commerce.cgi and agoracgi.com mailing list archives. Added the ability to clear the order form _VERIFY file and re-display a blank order form. Upon a "reload" of an order form page the CC info is now blanked out. Added serveral more code hooks for optional modules or custom libraries. Added another DOC on having taxes computed for only selected items in the catalog. *************************************************************************** Version 3.3b (13-DEC-2000) Added a few touches to the options agorascript, added a few more code hooks for use with the cart's construction. After items are added to the cart then a custom library and/or agorascript within the option(s) file(s) can be used to change the cart navigation, handle inventory control, or perform other functions. For options files, in addition to the standard "pre" and "post" agorascript, you may also choose "add-to-cart" (if that item is added to the cart it is activated) or "add-to-cart-opt-#" (if option number # was selected the agorascript code is run.) *************************************************************************** Version 3.3a (08-DEC-2000) Changes to the order libraries, and the database library. Minor bug fixes to Offline library, additional security features installed. Added "pickup" setting for UPS in the manager instead of forcing folks to modify the script directly. (Note: UPS code still does not add extra insurance for expensive packages.) Any fields on the order form that have _XCOMMENT_ as part of the name, such as Ecom_XCOMMENT_Special_Notes will be included at the bottom of the emails. The field name part after _XCOMMENT_ is parsed such that the appropriate section of the email will be marked as "Special Notes". To ensure that the come out in the order since they are sorted you could call them things like: Ecom_a_XCOMMENT_Special_Notes Ecom_b_XCOMMENT_Gift_Card_Note And the first one, Ecom_a_XCOMMENT_Special_Notes, would come out first since it will sort first. Added a new kind of agorascript for the order forms. Before the order form has any processing done at all, the agorascript of type "orderform" can be used (in addition to the usual "pre" and "post" style), as in: Agorascript has also been added for options files. *************************************************************************** Version 3.2r (04-OCT-2000) Minor changes. Modified the Offline module to not cache order form pages. *************************************************************************** Version 3.2q (27-SEP-2000) Minor additions, forces the die routines to do a &call_exit if possible to cleanup things such as open files. Changes the emtpy cart mechanism, now centralized and functional too. Fixed CC EXP print in Offline library. Fixed agora's built-in picture serving routine to add a leading slash if the image name needs one. *************************************************************************** Version 3.2p (3.2o was limited test release) (26-SEP-2000) Small fixes and additional codehooks. Linkpoint fix (delete "cart" HTML HIDDEN tag.) Added small change to the manager code for image name processing so it is centralized. It now uses a template string which may be easily modified without changing the script. The string is $sc_image_string_template found in the agora.setup.db file. It tells the manager how to re-format the image name added via the manager for proper display at runtime by substituting the image name for the %%image%% token. For example, to make an image point to a larger image in the same directory (the name of the larger file starts with lg_ followed by the name of this smaller file, such as lg_0001.gif and 0001.gif): $sc_image_string_template = '' . ''; Cookies now last longer, cart expiration is independent of cookie expiration (cart is emptied if it expired even if cookie identifies them as owning the cart.) This is important for customer recognition module that could be added later on. Custom libraries now must end in .pl or they will not be loaded (case insensitive.) To make it easier to use the manager's image upload option, it is suggested to use the product number as the basis for the image name, and use the name of the standard file as the basis for larger and smaller versions of that image. Something like this might work well: 0001.gif (Standard) lg_0001.gif (larger view) sm_0001.gif (small view) Only the standard one is "required" so to speak, although you really never have to display any images. The smaller one is a suggestion, if desired, for the display on the cart view pages. The larger one is used by some customers as well for clicking on the image display on the product display pages to view a larger version. By keeping all image files in the same directory the manager image upload works well for multiple images. The agorascript in the sample store no longer shows the cart contents upon return from a payment gateway. Payment gateway responses now routinely prevent re-direct mechanism from acting. Required additional database routines added. *************************************************************************** Version 3.2n (23-AUG-2000) "Bug fix" (enhancement) of 3.2m, handles old-style order form validation. Added option in PGP to convert newlines. *************************************************************************** Version 3.2m (22-AUG-2000) Fixed some static page code, added %%item_ordered_msg%% token to the header/footer routine. Split out the $sc vars in the agora.setup.db library for that token as well. Changed Order libraries so that they do not each have the "redundant" sub display_calculations. Enabled agorascript on the order form. Enabled the possibility of secondary payment gateways with a hidden field on the order forms called "gateway", and the codehook "printSubmitPage". Fixed the cart id code in the event that a static page is loaded first. NOTE: Due to extensive changes in gateway libraries, it might be a good idea to be ready to restore old files easily as there is a chance things may not work perfectly ;) You may now change settings other than the "primary" gateway by invoking the manager's gateway settings screen with the gateway= parameter using a URL such as: .../protected/manager.cgi?gateway_screen=yes&gateway=PayPal (where ... is the rest of the path to your manager's protected directory.) If you have previously written custom gateway code then you probably should add the hidden field "gateway" to both the order form and the gateway settings update screen form. To enable secondary payment gateways: see the "combo" sample order form in the html/main directory, and make the HTML you develop follow that format. It is OK to use image buttons here if you know how. The order form of your "primary" gateway is the default order form loaded, put your "combo" order form HTML code there. Then place your secondary gateway "order" lib file(s) in the store/custom directory so they will be auto-loaded. *************************************************************************** Version 3.2l (19-AUG-2000) Fixup of LWP call in USPS API. PayPal update. Now caches the productpage .inc files, less I/O. Can optionally not replace the FORM tags on the order form, allows multiple gateways coding to go a little smoother. Two new HIDDEN fields in Offline library that save vals without monetary symbol: PLAINAMOUNT (grandtotal) SUBTOTALAMT (subtotal) *************************************************************************** Version 3.2k (12-AUG-2000) Changed the FORM and CENTER tags on orders to be in the right order. Fixed the iTransact lib to close out the FORM tag. Also added the sub "call_exit" instead of just using "exit" so that various closes and lock releases can be done automatically upon exit. 3.2k is the first version that allows for the addition of other payment gateways without the need to modify any standard code. Just by using manager "custom" and standard "-order_lib" libraries agora can recognize the library and add it to the standard list of available gateways. *************************************************************************** Version 3.2j,3.2ja: (08-AUG-2000) Updated the UPS code for the new (Jan 2000) API. Also, removed the USPS "free" code as it cannot be used reliably. FEDEX still doesn't work right, that is next on the list. The manager reminds somebody who is upgrading the manager to use to a gatewy not previously offered that there are example order forms and user libraries available. Fixed bug in PayPal setup in manager.cgi. 3.2ja: FEDEX fix and addition of codehooks. *************************************************************************** Version 3.2i: (06-AUG-2000) PayPal now sends admin eamil before going to PayPal site. *************************************************************************** Version 3.2h: (05-AUG-2000) Added codehooks and changed "process_Order" sub names for gateways to help allow multiple gateways. Fixed the unlink of capture files bug. *************************************************************************** Version 3.2g: (04-AUG-2000) Added PayPal payment option. *************************************************************************** Version 3.2f: (03-AUG-2000) Fixed AuthorizeNet problem with tainted variables on return, plus made the code use the Secure Store Header and Footer routines so that secure images may be displayed more easily. *************************************************************************** Version 3.2e: (02-AUG-2000) Bugfix on shipping info, SBW module was broken if shipping field was not displayed on the cart! Previously reported but elusive until now. Added ability to take checks on Offline Processing Mode (experimental!) *************************************************************************** Version 3.2d: (31-JUL-2000) Added a few codehooks for future use. (Not a bugfix) *************************************************************************** Version 3.2c: (21-JUL-2000) Fixed FORM tags in Offline library. *************************************************************************** Version 3.2b: (15-JUL-2000) Added the %%StoreHeader%% and %%StoreFooter%% tokens for static pages. Also added the %%item_ordered_msg%% token for controled placement in static pages. Recursive nature of agorascript enhanced by making &capture_STDOUT and &uncapture_STDOUT recursive. Database search routine now returns just the keys to the items to be displayed. This will help implementation of databases other than the flatfile currently in use. *************************************************************************** Version 3.2a: (05-JUL-2000) Minor cosmetic changes, plus the cart "fakes it" on page reloads. Added the $sc_standard_head_info variable to allow HTML HEAD info added throughout the store "fly" generated pages. (Loaded HTML pages are not changed by this vaiable.) *************************************************************************** Version 3.2: (04-JUL-2000) As of version 3.2, there is a new way to display cart contents. If the system detects display_cart=1 (or dc=1) in the URL or in POST form data then the cart will be displayed. Formerly syntax such as View Cart was used to view the cart. With the simplified view cart code it becomes View Cart This simplifies the HTML and prevents false error messages about reloaded pages. -- Added code for USPS (login id required) and FedEx cost lookups. Changed the totals display to be tabular instead of "unaligned/centered." Added response code checking in AuthorizeNet library. The cart contents are dumped if card is rejected, left alone if an error occured such as "try back later" and normal processing for normal orders. (UNTESTED!) Changed code to further the efforts to place unique cart modifiers for each link generated. Moved more messages to the agora.setup.db file. Changed the sample store to have "select list" for shipping instead of radio buttons. *************************************************************************** Version 3.1c: (23-JUN-2000) Fixed a couple bugs with carts and with Linkpoint. Added code to attempt to check if a page is re-loaded inappropriately. Updated the database routines to allow non-numeric item keys. Put the file "commando.ok" in by default. *************************************************************************** Version 3.1b: (19-JUN-2000) Disabled COMMANDO option by default, the file commando.ok must be present in the "protected" directory in order for this option to be turned on. *************************************************************************** Version 3.1: (15-JUN-2000) Added ability to load custom libraries of arbitrary names in the custom directories of agora.cgi and manager.cgi. Added Linkpoint gateway library and order form. Changed the wrapper programs to be more user friendly, in the event that they may be needed. Added the "commando" function in the manager that allows non-interactive Unix commands to be executed from the manager program. This command opens things up a bit, it is very important to keep your ./protected directory password protected! Re-vamped the manager screens for entry/edit of products. The database routines have been moved to the agora_db_lib.pl and the database-lib.pl libraries and out of the manager for the most part. Hopefully this will make it easier to implement mySQL or another database engine. Previously, the manager and it's libraries had a lot of code for adding, editing, deleting entries. The manager now allows saving of database records as a new ID as well as setting the ID number for new records. The database now "pads" the keys with leading zeros. This is helpful for sorting purposes. If you do not like this feature, then set padding to zero in the agora.setup.db file. To pad the current entries, use the "update tags" feature in the manager database functions. By default, padding is set to 4 (great for 0 - 9999 products.) Agorascript is now recursive. If you use it to load a file that has agorascript within, that script will be run as well! (Formerly, if a -pre agorascript loaded a -post agorascript, that would be run.) Extra Tax routines have been added, but not yet placed in the manager. They are only useful for Offline processing at this point, not added to the other libraries. Fixed searching with multiple words. Fixed %%gateway_username%% substitution bug. May now enter a zero quantity to delete an item. If a negative or plus sign is used, then then "math" is done so that number is added to old qty value. *************************************************************************** Version 3.0v: (01-MAY-2000) Bug fix for 3.0u *************************************************************************** Version 3.0u: (30-APR-2000) Added these tags to AuthorizeNet Library: Added ability to view and clear error log in the manager. Fixed-up the custom shipping logic processing to have better error handling. Updated and patched cgi-lib.pl to hopefully fix an MSIE 5.01 bug. *************************************************************************** Version 3.0t: (21-APR-2000) Added ./custom directory and auto-loading code for the custom library ./custom/custom-lib.pl if it is present at startup. Installed "custom shipping logic" mechanism that may optionally be coupled to libraries in the ./custom directory. *************************************************************************** Version 3.0s: (14-MAR-2000) Added diagnostic message for PGP library, if it returns no data the message is placed in the error log (or displayed in debug mode). *************************************************************************** Version 3.0r: (09-MAR-2000) Fixes the ".htaccess" bug in manager.cgi and changed code to format prices of options a little better. Minor fixes to iTransact library and "handling charge" in the manager. *************************************************************************** Version 3.0q: (07-MAR-2000) Security update, verifies PGP signatures from iTransact responses. *************************************************************************** Version 3.0p: (05-MAR-2000) Added code to allow browsers that NEVER check for an updated page to be forced to do so for our code. *************************************************************************** Version 3.0o: (02-MAR-2000) Minor bugfixes. Added a "searchpage.html" page that comes up if a search is requested but no fields are filled in. If the page is not there, then all items are displayed. *************************************************************************** Version 3.0n: (02-MAR-2000) Fixed bug in "verification" file checking. Also, added options for specifying whether to multiply by quantity on "Cart Display". Be sure to re-run the manager and setup "Cart Display" to be the way you want it! *************************************************************************** Version 3.0m: (3.0l not released) (25-FEB-2000) Added file html/empty_cart_footer.inc, if the file is there and qty is zero it will be used instead of html/cart_footer.inc file. Auto-redirect does not happen if ordering is in progress (bugfix). Fixed pointers to www.agoracgi.com, the script's new home! *************************************************************************** Version 3.0k: (24-FEB-2000) Minor diagnostics added. *************************************************************************** Version 3.0j: (23-FEB-2000) Automatic redirection to the "correct" server address, helps with cookies and the HTTP_REFERRER code. Added META tags to prevent cart display from being cached at the browser. Added a verification file to prevent accidental re-submission of orders as well as verify the prices, hackers now have a MUCH harder time defeating the system. (Only implemented for Offline orders at the moment.) Added a hack so that "blank" searches return the entire database by preserving "search_request_button" in state routines. *************************************************************************** Version 3.0h,i: (20-FEB-2000) Minor agorascript additions to assist with debugging and error recovery. Also, now the Bill-to zip is used if the Ship-to zip is not filled out for UPS calculations. Changed the Offline order form state fields to default to blank to help with this as well. *************************************************************************** Version 3.0g: (20-FEB-2000) Minor changes, put the

--cut here--<\/h3> tokens in the header, footer, and productPage.inc routines. Fixed the cart name error. *************************************************************************** Version 3.0f: (20-FEB-2000) Minor changes. *************************************************************************** Version 3.0e: (20-FEB-2000) Added a feature to allow multiple instances of keywords= or product= in URL or FORM data. Also, added shortcut of p= and k= to represent product= and keyword=, respectively. Fixed a lil manager.cgi bug with incorrectly saying there is no .htaccess file when there actually is one! Added the &capture_STDOUT and &uncapture_STDOUT routines for use in agorascript (PERL inside your HTML and .inc files). See the file agorascript.txt in the DOCS directory for more information on using it. Changed the shopping cart names so they now say _cart at the end instead of just having a number. The orginal code attached ".cart" at the end, then stripped it off using regular expressions. Untainted $cart_id and fixed a potential problem with accidently using cart_id= more than once in a form. *************************************************************************** Version 3.0d: (19-FEB-2000) Patch applied to prevent the program from reaching a lock-up condition if the Socket.pm module is not present with PERL. The http-lib uses it, and would failed to load, thus disabling the manager and agora.cgi programs. Fixed what seemd to be a bug with showing exactly what was in the agora_user_lib.pl immediately after an update. *************************************************************************** Version 3.0c: (18-FEB-2000) Disabled the browsing of pages outside the specific directory for product pages. With "agorascript" and other files, it is important to only execute and display pages exactly where they are located. Version 3.0b has only been released for a few hours and not yet announced to the mailing list, but since it was there for download we have assigend a new version number. Fixed bug from 3.0a, in agora_html_lib.pl, there is a stray semicolon after the variable $sc_product_display_footer (it only appears once in that file, easy to file without upgrading if so desired.) Anyone running 3.0b should upgrade to 3.0c if: 1) running agorascript or 2) using an HTML-based store without valid database entries to verify the processing of product orders Otherwise, no compelling reason to upgrade. Finished reorganizing the libraries, eliminating several and instead placing their contents in other directories. The libraries removed form the /library directory are: database-lib.pl (moved to /protected directory store_admin_actions.pl (moved to /protected directory store_admin_html.pl (moved to /protected directory special_library.pl (mostly moved to agora_html_lib.pl) agora_subs.pl (mostly moved to agora_html_lib.pl) The define_shipping_logic routine was moved to the shipping_lib.pl The manager was changed so that descriptions were on the left, and the variables/textboxes are on the right. In the add/edit of products, the description was moved up so it is before the user defined fields. There is an agorascript example in the hmtl-templates directory called productPage-agorascript_example.inc and displays the database contents in a somewhat raw form. To see it work in the sample store, type in: agoracgi?keywords=html&ppinc=agorascript_example The contents of productPage-agorascript_example.inc are:
Notice the PERL is enclosed in the "" delimiters. The value of $str is incorporated into the HTML in place of the script at run time. *************************************************************************** Version 3.0b: (17-FEB-2000) On-The-Fly Page Generation: --------------------------- New features in 3.0b include multiple levels of on-the-fly page generation. If there is a field named "ppinc", then the value is used to search for the proper productPage.inc file. If the syntax used is: In that script, the string returned is the token %%cart_id%%, not its value, because it was executed before the substitutions were made (the -pre part of the script header specifies that.) However, after the script has run, the token %%cart_id%% is not embedded in the working version of the HTML. The token will be substituted for it's actual value for display purposes in the next step of processing. So, if need the value of the cart, product number, category, etc. inside the script, you would want to run the script after the substitution. Also, the global values of $my_string and $test_val were altered. To have your own local variables, it is easy enough to declare them as local. Now consider this example: The -post part of the script header tells agora.cgi to run it after substitution of %% tokens. This script will return the value of the $my_string, which is the actual value of the cart_id for this session. Of course this is a lot of work to get just the cart_id, but the possibilities for customization are almost unlimited. For safety, if you need global variables to store information between invocations of such scripts, it is suggested that you use variables that begin with $ags_ (such as $ags_been_here) simply because no variables appear in the agora.cgi package that begin that way. *************************************************************************** Version 3.0a (12-FEB-2000) First RELEASE of the renamed agora.cgi software. Previously it was known as Commerce.cgi 2 beta UPS "Deluxe" version.