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| <H1 ALIGN="CENTER">Terms Used to Describe Apache Directives</H1> |
| |
| <P> |
| Each Apache configuration directive is described using a common format |
| that looks like this: |
| </P> |
| <DL> |
| <DD><A |
| HREF="#Syntax" |
| REL="Help" |
| ><STRONG>Syntax:</STRONG></A> <EM>directive-name</EM> <EM>some args</EM> |
| <BR> |
| <A |
| HREF="#Default" |
| REL="Help" |
| ><STRONG>Default:</STRONG></A> |
| <SAMP><EM>directive-name default-value</EM></SAMP> |
| <BR> |
| <A |
| HREF="#Context" |
| REL="Help" |
| ><STRONG>Context:</STRONG></A> <EM>context-list</EM> |
| <BR> |
| <A |
| HREF="#Override" |
| REL="Help" |
| ><STRONG>Override:</STRONG></A> <EM>override</EM> |
| <BR> |
| <A |
| HREF="#Status" |
| REL="Help" |
| ><STRONG>Status:</STRONG></A> <EM>status</EM> |
| <BR> |
| <A |
| HREF="#Module" |
| REL="Help" |
| ><STRONG>Module:</STRONG></A> <EM>module-name</EM> |
| <BR> |
| <A |
| HREF="#Compatibility" |
| REL="Help" |
| ><STRONG>Compatibility:</STRONG></A> <EM>compatibility notes</EM> |
| <BR> |
| <A |
| HREF="#Deprecated" |
| REL="Help" |
| ><STRONG>Deprecated:</STRONG></A> <EM>see other</EM> |
| </DD> |
| </DL> |
| <P> |
| Each of the directive's attributes, complete with possible values |
| where possible, are described in this document. |
| </P> |
| |
| <H2>Directive Terms</H2> |
| <UL> |
| <LI><A HREF="#Syntax">Syntax</A> |
| </LI> |
| <LI><A HREF="#Default">Default</A> |
| </LI> |
| <LI><A HREF="#Context">Context</A> |
| </LI> |
| <LI><A HREF="#Override">Override</A> |
| </LI> |
| <LI><A HREF="#Status">Status</A> |
| </LI> |
| <LI><A HREF="#Module">Module</A> |
| </LI> |
| <LI><A HREF="#Compatibility">Compatibility</A> |
| </LI> |
| <LI><A HREF="#Deprecated">Deprecated</A> |
| </LI> |
| </UL> |
| |
| <HR> |
| <H2><A NAME="Syntax">Syntax</A></H2> |
| <P> |
| This indicates the format of the directive as it would appear in a |
| configuration file. This syntax is extremely directive-specific, |
| and is described in detail in the directive's definition. |
| Generally, the directive name is followed by a series of one or |
| more space-separated arguments. If an argument contains a space, |
| the argument must be enclosed in double quotes. Optional arguments |
| are enclosed in square brackets. Where an argument can take on more |
| than one possible value, the possible values are separated by |
| vertical bars "|". Literal text is presented in the default font, |
| while argument-types for which substitution is necessary are |
| <em>emphasized</em>. Directives which can take a variable number of |
| arguments will end in "..." indicating that the last argument is |
| repeated. |
| </P> |
| |
| <P> |
| Directives use a great number of different argument types. |
| A few common ones are defined below.</p> |
| |
| <dl> |
| |
| <dt><em>URL</em></dt> |
| |
| <dd>A complete Uniform Resource Locator including a scheme, hostname, |
| and optional pathname as in |
| <code>http://www.example.com/path/to/file.html</code></dd> |
| |
| <dt><em>URL-path</em><dt> |
| |
| <dd>The part of a <em>url</em> which follows the scheme and hostname |
| as in <code>/path/to/file.html</code>. The <em>url-path</em> |
| represents a web-view of a resource, as opposed to a file-system |
| view.</dd> |
| |
| <dt><em>file-path</em></dt> |
| |
| <dd>The path to a file in the local file-system beginning with the |
| root directory as in |
| <code>/usr/local/apache/htdocs/path/to/file.html</code>. Unless |
| otherwise specified, a <em>file-path</em> which does not begin with a |
| slash will be treated as relative to the <a |
| href="core.html#serverroot">ServerRoot</a>.</dd> |
| |
| <dt><em>directory-path</em></dt> |
| |
| <dd>The path to a directory in the local file-system beginning with |
| the root directory as in |
| <code>/usr/local/apache/htdocs/path/to/</code>. |
| |
| <dt><em>filename</em></dt> |
| |
| <dd>The name of a file with no accompanying path information as in |
| <code>file.html</code>.</dd> |
| |
| <dt><em>regex</em></dt> |
| |
| <dd>A <a href="../misc/FAQ.html#regex">regular expression</a>, which |
| is a way of describing a pattern to match in text. The directive |
| definition will specify what the <em>regex</em> is matching |
| against.</dd> |
| |
| <dt><em>extension</em></dt> |
| |
| <dd>In general, this is the part of the <em>filename</em> which |
| follows the last dot. However, Apache recognizes multiple filename |
| extensions, so if a <em>filename</em> contains more than one dot, each |
| dot-separated part of the filename following the first dot is an |
| <em>extension</em>. For example, the <em>filename</em> |
| <code>file.html.en</code> contains two extensions: <code>.html</code> |
| and <code>.en</code>. For Apache directives, you may specify |
| <em>extension</em>s with or without the leading dot. In addition, |
| <em>extension</em>s are not case sensitive.</dd> |
| |
| <dt><em>MIME-type</em></dt> |
| |
| <dd>A method of describing the format of a file which consists of a |
| major format type and a minor format type, separated by a slash |
| as in <code>text/html</code>. |
| |
| <dt><em>env-variable</em></dt> |
| |
| <dd>The name of an <a href="../env.html">environment variable</a> |
| defined in the Apache configuration process. Note this is not |
| necessarily the same as an operating system environment variable. See |
| the <a href="../env.html">environment variable documentation</a> for |
| more details.</dd> |
| |
| </dl> |
| |
| <HR> |
| <H2><A NAME="Default">Default</A></H2> |
| <P> |
| If the directive has a default value (<EM>i.e.</EM>, if you omit it |
| from your configuration entirely, the Apache Web server will behave as |
| though you set it to a particular value), it is described here. If |
| there is no default value, this section should say |
| "<EM>None</EM>". Note that the default listed here is not |
| necessarily the same as the value the directive takes in the |
| default httpd.conf distributed with the server. |
| </P> |
| |
| <HR> |
| <H2><A NAME="Context">Context</A></H2> |
| <P> |
| This indicates where in the server's configuration files the directive |
| is legal. It's a comma-separated list of one or more of the following |
| values: |
| </P> |
| <DL> |
| <DT><STRONG>server config</STRONG> |
| </DT> |
| <DD>This means that the directive may be used in the server |
| configuration files (<EM>e.g.</EM>, <SAMP>httpd.conf</SAMP>, |
| <SAMP>srm.conf</SAMP>, and <SAMP>access.conf</SAMP>), but |
| <STRONG>not</STRONG> within any <SAMP><VirtualHost></SAMP> or |
| <Directory> containers. It is not allowed in |
| <SAMP>.htaccess</SAMP> files at all. |
| <P> |
| </P> |
| </DD> |
| <DT><STRONG>virtual host</STRONG> |
| </DT> |
| <DD>This context means that the directive may appear inside |
| <SAMP><VirtualHost></SAMP> containers in the server |
| configuration files. |
| <P> |
| </P> |
| </DD> |
| <DT><STRONG>directory</STRONG> |
| </DT> |
| <DD>A directive marked as being valid in this context may be used |
| inside <SAMP><Directory></SAMP>, |
| <SAMP><Location></SAMP>, and <SAMP><Files></SAMP> |
| containers in the server configuration files, subject to the |
| restrictions outlined in <A HREF="../sections.html">How Directory, |
| Location and Files sections work</A>. |
| <P> |
| </P> |
| </DD> |
| <DT><STRONG>.htaccess</STRONG> |
| </DT> |
| <DD>If a directive is valid in this context, it means that it can |
| appear inside <EM>per</EM>-directory <SAMP>.htaccess</SAMP> files. |
| It may not be processed, though depending upon the |
| <A |
| HREF="#Override" |
| REL="Help" |
| >overrides</A> |
| currently active. |
| <P> |
| </P> |
| </DD> |
| </DL> |
| <P> |
| The directive is <EM>only</EM> allowed within the designated context; |
| if you try to use it elsewhere, you'll get a configuration error that |
| will either prevent the server from handling requests in that context |
| correctly, or will keep the server from operating at all -- |
| <EM>i.e.</EM>, the server won't even start. |
| </P> |
| <P> |
| The valid locations for the directive are actually the result of a |
| Boolean OR of all of the listed contexts. In other words, a directive |
| that is marked as being valid in "<SAMP>server config, |
| .htaccess</SAMP>" can be used in the <SAMP>httpd.conf</SAMP> file |
| and in <SAMP>.htaccess</SAMP> files, but not within any |
| <Directory> or <VirtualHost> containers. |
| </P> |
| |
| <HR> |
| <H2><A NAME="Override">Override</A></H2> |
| <P> |
| This directive attribute indicates which configuration override must |
| be active in order for the directive to be processed when it appears |
| in a <SAMP>.htaccess</SAMP> file. If the directive's |
| <A |
| HREF="#Context" |
| REL="Help" |
| >context</A> |
| doesn't permit it to appear in <SAMP>.htaccess</SAMP> files, this |
| attribute should say "<EM>Not applicable</EM>". |
| </P> |
| <P> |
| Overrides are activated by the |
| <A |
| HREF="core.html#allowoverride" |
| REL="Help" |
| ><SAMP>AllowOverride</SAMP></A> |
| directive, and apply to a particular scope (such as a directory) and |
| all descendants, unless further modified by other |
| <SAMP>AllowOverride</SAMP> directives at lower levels. The |
| documentation for that directive also lists the possible override |
| names available. |
| </P> |
| |
| <HR> |
| <H2><A NAME="Status">Status</A></H2> |
| <P> |
| This indicates how tightly bound into the Apache Web server the |
| directive is; in other words, you may need to recompile the server |
| with an enhanced set of modules in order to gain access to the |
| directive and its functionality. Possible values for this attribute |
| are: |
| </P> |
| <DL> |
| <DT><STRONG>Core</STRONG> |
| </DT> |
| <DD>If a directive is listed as having "Core" status, that |
| means it is part of the innermost portions of the Apache Web server, |
| and is always available. |
| <P> |
| </P> |
| </DD> |
| <DT><STRONG>MPM</STRONG> |
| </DT> |
| <DD>A directive labeled as having "MPM" status is |
| provided by a <a href="../mpm.html">Multi-Processing Module</a>. |
| This type of directive will be available if and only if you are |
| using one of the MPMs lised on the <a href="#Module">Module</a> |
| line of the directive definition. |
| <P> |
| </P> |
| </DD> |
| <DT><STRONG>Base</STRONG> |
| </DT> |
| <DD>A directive labeled as having "Base" status is |
| supported by one of the standard Apache modules which is compiled |
| into the server by default, and is therefore normally available |
| unless you've taken steps to remove the module from your configuration. |
| <P> |
| </P> |
| </DD> |
| <DT><STRONG>Extension</STRONG> |
| </DT> |
| <DD>A directive with "Extension" status is provided by one |
| of the modules included with the Apache server kit, but the module |
| isn't normally compiled into the server. To enable the directive |
| and its functionality, you will need to change the server build |
| configuration files and re-compile Apache. |
| <P> |
| </P> |
| </DD> |
| <DT><STRONG>Experimental</STRONG> |
| </DT> |
| <DD>"Experimental" status indicates that the directive is |
| available as part of the Apache kit, but you're on your own if you |
| try to use it. The directive is being documented for completeness, |
| and is not necessarily supported. The module which provides the |
| directive may or may not be compiled in by default; check the top of |
| the page which describes the directive and its module to see if it |
| remarks on the availability. |
| <P> |
| </P> |
| </DD> |
| </DL> |
| |
| <HR> |
| <H2><A NAME="Module">Module</A></H2> |
| <P> |
| This quite simply lists the name of the source module which defines |
| the directive. |
| </P> |
| |
| <HR> |
| <H2><A NAME="Compatibility">Compatibility</A></H2> |
| <P> |
| If the directive wasn't part of the original Apache version 1 |
| distribution, the version in which it was introduced should be listed |
| here. If the directive has the same name as one from the NCSA HTTPd |
| server, any inconsistencies in behaviour between the two should also |
| be mentioned. Otherwise, this attribute should say "<EM>No |
| compatibility issues.</EM>" |
| </P> |
| |
| <HR> |
| <H2><A NAME="Deprecated">Deprecated</A></H2> |
| <P> |
| If this directive is eliminated since the Apache version 1 distribution, |
| the directive or option that replaces the behavior should be cited here. |
| In general, directives, features, and options are only deprecated to |
| minimize debugging of conflicting features, or if the feature can only |
| continue to be supported in an alternate manner. |
| </P> |
| |
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