NAME
Apache::ParseControl - an apache module to control the parsing of server-side scripts
SYNOPSIS
In a <Location> or <Directory> directive
SetHandler perl-script
PerlHandler Apache::ParseControlABSTRACT
This module operates at the content handling stage of resource retrieval in Apache, returning binary files as binary and text files as text, that is, it will return the source of cgi, php, etc. instead of parsing any server-side scriping.
DESCRIPTION
The Apache web server module mod_dav facilitates the use of the WebDAV standard within the Apache Web server. The standard extends the Hypertext Transfer Protocol adding request methods to PUT files up on a site, DELETE from a site, MOVE, COPY, etc. However, WebDAV uses the same GET request method to download files that browsers use when reading them. When a file is GET'ed, it is parsed by whatever handler is assigned to it within the server. In the case of a plain html file, there is really no server-side parsing going on and therefore the source of the file is returned in a modifiable format. In the case of a SSI, CGI, or PHP file, for example, the file is parsed by the default handler for that file type and the output of that parse is returned in response to the request. This gives the client html source code, but not the actual source code to the application. This module intervenes at the content handling stage of resource retrieval within Apache, reading the requested filename, and bypassing its default handler, returing the file as is, with no parsing whatsoever.
RATIONALE
I believe that this module will be beneficial to a large number of developers, webmasters, and sysadmins as it allows WebDAV to be viable for publishing for use on sites where server-side scripting languages are used. This module was originally called Apache::NoParse, because all it did, and currently does, is return all files within the <Directory>, <Location>, or <Files> statement containing it as is, without parsing at. I changed it to Apache::ParseControl because a near future release will allow the implementer to specify file types to control, and the depth of control, that is recursion into directories, etc. This could partially be done with native Apache directives. I endeavor to make it easier and more granular using this module. Just wait, you'll see...
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Copyright 2001, D. Anthony Patrick. All rights reserved except as listed below.
Originally conceived and written for the College and Graduate School of Education at Kent State University.
Released with permission of The College and Graduate School of Education, Kent State University.
This library is free software; you can distribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
Check http://www.cpan.org and http://home.config.com/~dpatrick/computing/perl/ for new versions and updates.
CREDITS
BUGS
SEE ALSO
Stein & MacEachern, Writing Apache Modules with Perl and C, 1999, O'Reilly and Associates, ISBN 1-56592-567-X
WebDAV Resources Site - http://www.webdav.org
THANKS
To MDK for listening (and not listening) to my endless drone about the wonders of Perl and nature of computing today.