Authorize.net Connect Script

This page preserves the technical information associated with the historical authorizenet_lib.pl Perl library. It is retained as an archive and should not be treated as current payment-integration guidance.

Important: The original library targeted Authorize.net's historical AIM/direct-response workflow, Perl CGI, older gateway endpoints and legacy password-based account settings. Payment APIs and security requirements have changed substantially. Do not deploy this old integration against live card data without independently reviewing current Authorize.net documentation and PCI requirements.

Introduction

What the library was designed to do

authorizenet_lib.pl was written by Chris Costa as a CGI helper library for connecting a website to Authorize.net using the gateway's then-current AIM/direct-response method. It was intended to simplify the difficult server-side connection layer, not to be a complete ordering or transaction-management application.

The library submitted transaction fields to Authorize.net, received the gateway response, organized returned values into easier-to-use Perl variables, and included ready-made success and error displays. The site offered the script separately for $49.99 and included it as part of certain hosted/design solutions.

Historical requirements

Server requirements listed for the script

Perl 5.004 or later
A secure/SSL-capable web server
Net::SSLeay and its SSL/OpenSSL dependencies
A UNIX-style hosting environment; other systems could require changes

The original instructions advised customers to ask their hosting company about installing Net::SSLeay if it was not already available.

Features

What the library provided

A relatively simple integration layer for developers already familiar with CGI scripts and HTML forms.
Direct server-to-gateway processing so the customer remained on the merchant website during the historical AIM flow.
Parsing of gateway responses into named variables rather than requiring the developer to repeatedly work from response-array positions.
Preformatted success and error output that could be displayed directly or captured for inclusion in custom pages.
Additional merchant-defined explanatory text for common errors.
Temporary inclusion of account credentials at submission time rather than exposing credentials in customer-facing HTML forms.

Historical configuration

Configuration model

The script placed merchant-specific settings near the top of the Perl file. These included a permitted referring URL when used, the Authorize.net protocol version, merchant login credentials, and the gateway host/script/port values required by the service at the time.

# Simplified historical shape — not current integration code
$anetreferer = "https://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/yourscript.cgi";

%ANET = (
    "x_Version"  => "...",
    "x_Login"    => "merchant-login",
    "x_Password" => "merchant-password"
);

$anethost   = "historical-gateway-host";
$anetscript = "historical-gateway-path";
$anetport   = "443";

The old guide also required compatible “delimited response” settings in the merchant's Authorize.net account so the script could parse the returned data correctly.

Transaction submission

How a transaction was called

The merchant's CGI form-processing script first loaded the helper library and then passed a reference to the Perl hash containing the transaction fields into the library's authorization routine.

# Historical usage pattern
require "../cgi-bin/authorizenet_lib.pl";
&authorize(\%FORM);

The name of the form-data hash could vary; the important detail was passing a hash reference containing the Authorize.net fields and any additional application data.

Responses

How results were exposed to the calling script

The library retained the raw gateway response while also creating easier-to-use result structures. Basic outcome information included whether the payment was approved, declined or errored, the transaction identifier when available, the gateway's reason text, and optional additional explanatory text.

A second response hash mapped gateway response fields to descriptive names such as response code, approval code and transaction ID. That allowed a merchant script to use results in HTML pages, logs or email messages without repeatedly looking up raw array positions.

Preformatted output

Built-in success and error displays

The historical helper included routines that could either print a complete error/success response immediately or return formatted output to a variable. A receipt-oriented mode returned a smaller group of useful fields such as amount, gateway response text, authorization code, transaction ID and address-verification result for insertion into a custom receipt page.

Example workflow

Typical historical flow

A merchant form gathered the required payment fields, posted them to a CGI processor, and the processor determined when a charge should be submitted. The processor then loaded authorizenet_lib.pl, called the authorization function, examined the returned status, and displayed either the success routine or the error routine.

# Simplified historical control flow
if ($FORM{placecharge} eq "yes") {
    require "../cgi-bin/authorizenet_lib.pl";
    &authorize(\%FORM);

    if ($result{result} eq "Approved") {
        &show_anet_success;
    } else {
        &show_anet_error;
        exit;
    }
}

The original documentation also showed how the formatted receipt data could be captured and inserted into a merchant-branded receipt, then extended with logging, email or other order-processing logic.

Comments / suggestions

Historical author contact

The script documentation identified Chris Costa as the author and directed questions to the GetYourStoreOnline.com contact address.

Contact GetYourStoreOnline.com