6.2 CGI Handler

CGI handler is a handler that emulates the CGI environment under mod_python.

Note that this is not a "true" CGI environment in that it is emulated at the Python level. stdin and stdout are provided by substituting sys.stdin and sys.stdout, and the environment is replaced by a dictionary. The implication is that any outside programs called from within this environment via os.system, etc. will not see the environment available to the Python program, nor will they be able to read/write from standard input/output with the results expected in a "true" CGI environment.

The handler is provide as a stepping stone for the migration of legacy code away from CGI. It is not recommended that you settle on using this handler as the preferred way to use mod_python for the long term.

To use it, simply add this to your .htaccess file:

SetHandler python-program
PythonHandler mod_python.cgihandler

As of version 2.7, the cgihandler will properly reload even indirectly imported modules. This is done by saving a list of loaded modules (sys.modules) prior to executing a CGI script, and then comparing it with a list of imported modules after the CGI script is done. Modules (except for whose whose __file__ attribute points to the standard Python library location) will be deleted from sys.modules thereby forcing Python to load them again next time the CGI script imports them.

If you do not want the above behavior, edit the cgihandler.py file and comment out the code delimited by ###.

Tests show the cgihandler leaking some memory when processing a lot of file uploads. It is still not clear what causes this. The way to work around this is to set the Apache MaxRequestsPerChild to a non-zero value.