A CGI script can receive data in one of four ways:
http://host/cgi-bin?arg1&arg2
The arguments are usually in the form of name/value pairs (See below).
http://host/cgi-bin/script/mypath/cgiinput?arg1&arg2
Path information is useful if a CGI script requires data that does not frequently change, requires a lot of arguments and/or does not rely on user input values. Path Information often refers to files on the Web server such a configuration files, temporary files or data files.