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Apache's Handler Use

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472 views

Apache's Handler Use

Uploaded by

JohnLAsia
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Apache's Handler Use - Apache HTTP Server http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/handler.

html

Apache HTTP Server Version 2.2


Apache's Handler Use
This document describes the use of Apache's Handlers.

What is a Handler
Examples
Programmer's Note

What is a Handler

Related Modules Related Directives


mod_actions Action
mod_asis AddHandler
mod_cgi RemoveHandler
mod_imagemap SetHandler
mod_info
mod_mime
mod_negotiation
mod_status

A "handler" is an internal Apache representation of the action to be performed when a file is called. Generally, files have
implicit handlers, based on the file type. Normally, all files are simply served by the server, but certain file types are
"handled" separately.

Handlers may also be configured explicitly, based on either filename extensions or on location, without relation to file
type. This is advantageous both because it is a more elegant solution, and because it also allows for both a type and a
handler to be associated with a file. (See also Files with Multiple Extensions (↗ mod/mod_mime.html#multipleext) .)

Handlers can either be built into the server or included in a module, or they can be added with the Action directive. The
built-in handlers in the standard distribution are as follows:

default-handler: Send the file using the default_handler(), which is the handler used by default to handle
static content. (core)
send-as-is: Send file with HTTP headers as is. (mod_asis)
cgi-script: Treat the file as a CGI script. (mod_cgi)
imap-file: Parse as an imagemap rule file. (mod_imagemap)
server-info: Get the server's configuration information. (mod_info)
server-status: Get the server's status report. (mod_status)
type-map: Parse as a type map file for content negotiation. (mod_negotiation)

Examples

Modifying static content using a CGI script


The following directives will cause requests for files with the html extension to trigger the launch of the footer.pl
CGI script.

Action add-footer /cgi-bin/footer.pl


AddHandler add-footer .html

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Apache's Handler Use - Apache HTTP Server http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/handler.html

Then the CGI script is responsible for sending the originally requested document (pointed to by the PATH_TRANSLATED
environment variable) and making whatever modifications or additions are desired.

Files with HTTP headers


The following directives will enable the send-as-is handler, which is used for files which contain their own HTTP
headers. All files in the /web/htdocs/asis/ directory will be processed by the send-as-is handler, regardless of
their filename extensions.

<Directory /web/htdocs/asis>
SetHandler send-as-is
</Directory>

Programmer's Note
In order to implement the handler features, an addition has been made to the Apache API (↗ developer/API.html) that you
may wish to make use of. Specifically, a new record has been added to the request_rec structure:

char *handler

If you wish to have your module engage a handler, you need only to set r->handler to the name of the handler at any
time prior to the invoke_handler stage of the request. Handlers are implemented as they were before, albeit using the
handler name instead of a content type. While it is not necessary, the naming convention for handlers is to use a
dash-separated word, with no slashes, so as to not invade the media type name-space.

Copyright 2010 The Apache Software Foundation.


Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.

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