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7 --><title>Terms Used to Describe Directives - Apache HTTP Server</title><link href="../style/css/manual.css" rel="stylesheet" media="all" type="text/css" title="Main stylesheet" /><link href="../style/css/manual-loose-100pc.css" rel="alternate stylesheet" media="all" type="text/css" title="No Sidebar - Default font size" /><link href="../images/favicon.ico" rel="shortcut icon" /></head><body id="manual-page"><div id="page-header"><p class="menu"><a href="../mod/">Modules</a> | <a href="../mod/directives.html">Directives</a> | <a href="../faq/">FAQ</a> | <a href="../glossary.html">Glossary</a> | <a href="../sitemap.html">Sitemap</a></p><p class="apache">Apache HTTP Server Version 2.0</p><img alt="" src="../images/feather.gif" /></div><div class="up"><a href="./"><img title="<-" alt="<-" src="../images/left.gif" /></a></div><div id="path"><a href="http://www.apache.org/">Apache</a> > <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/">HTTP Server</a> > <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/docs-project/">Documentation</a> > <a href="../">Version 2.0</a></div><div id="page-content"><div id="preamble"><h1>Terms Used to Describe Directives</h1>
8 <p>This document describes the terms that are used to describe
9 each Apache <a href="directives.html">configuration
11 </div><div id="quickview"><ul id="toc"><li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="##Description">Description</a></li><li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#Syntax">Syntax</a></li><li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#Default">Default</a></li><li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#Context">Context</a></li><li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#Override">Override</a></li><li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#Status">Status</a></li><li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#Module">Module</a></li><li><img alt="" src="../images/down.gif" /> <a href="#Compatibility">Compatibility</a></li></ul><h3>See also</h3><ul class="seealso"><li><a href="../configuring.html">Configuration files</a></li></ul></div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div><div class="section"><h2><a name="#Description" id="#Description">Description</a></h2>
13 <p>A brief description of the purpose of the directive.</p>
14 </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div><div class="section"><h2><a name="Syntax" id="Syntax">Syntax</a></h2>
16 <p>This indicates the format of the directive as it would
17 appear in a configuration file. This syntax is extremely
18 directive-specific, and is described in detail in the
19 directive's definition. Generally, the directive name is
20 followed by a series of one or more space-separated arguments.
21 If an argument contains a space, the argument must be enclosed
22 in double quotes. Optional arguments are enclosed in square
23 brackets. Where an argument can take on more than one possible
24 value, the possible values are separated by vertical bars "|".
25 Literal text is presented in the default font, while
26 argument-types for which substitution is necessary are
27 <em>emphasized</em>. Directives which can take a variable
28 number of arguments will end in "..." indicating that the last
29 argument is repeated.</p>
31 <p>Directives use a great number of different argument types. A
32 few common ones are defined below.</p>
37 <dd>A complete Uniform Resource Locator including a scheme,
38 hostname, and optional pathname as in
39 <code>http://www.example.com/path/to/file.html</code></dd>
41 <dt><em>URL-path</em></dt>
43 <dd>The part of a <em>url</em> which follows the scheme and
44 hostname as in <code>/path/to/file.html</code>. The
45 <em>url-path</em> represents a web-view of a resource, as
46 opposed to a file-system view.</dd>
48 <dt><em>file-path</em></dt>
50 <dd>The path to a file in the local file-system beginning
51 with the root directory as in
52 <code>/usr/local/apache/htdocs/path/to/file.html</code>.
53 Unless otherwise specified, a <em>file-path</em> which does
54 not begin with a slash will be treated as relative to the <a href="core.html#serverroot">ServerRoot</a>.</dd>
56 <dt><em>directory-path</em></dt>
58 <dd>The path to a directory in the local file-system
59 beginning with the root directory as in
60 <code>/usr/local/apache/htdocs/path/to/</code>.</dd>
62 <dt><em>filename</em></dt>
64 <dd>The name of a file with no accompanying path information
65 as in <code>file.html</code>.</dd>
67 <dt><em>regex</em></dt>
69 <dd>A regular expression, which is a way of describing a
70 pattern to match in text. The directive definition will
71 specify what the <em>regex</em> is matching against.</dd>
73 <dt><em>extension</em></dt>
75 <dd>In general, this is the part of the <em>filename</em>
76 which follows the last dot. However, Apache recognizes
77 multiple filename extensions, so if a <em>filename</em>
78 contains more than one dot, each dot-separated part of the
79 filename following the first dot is an <em>extension</em>.
80 For example, the <em>filename</em> <code>file.html.en</code>
81 contains two extensions: <code>.html</code> and
82 <code>.en</code>. For Apache directives, you may specify
83 <em>extension</em>s with or without the leading dot. In
84 addition, <em>extension</em>s are not case sensitive.</dd>
86 <dt><em>MIME-type</em></dt>
88 <dd>A method of describing the format of a file which
89 consists of a major format type and a minor format type,
90 separated by a slash as in <code>text/html</code>.</dd>
92 <dt><em>env-variable</em></dt>
94 <dd>The name of an <a href="../env.html">environment
95 variable</a> defined in the Apache configuration process.
96 Note this is not necessarily the same as an operating system
97 environment variable. See the <a href="../env.html">environment variable documentation</a> for
100 </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div><div class="section"><h2><a name="Default" id="Default">Default</a></h2>
102 <p>If the directive has a default value (<em>i.e.</em>, if you
103 omit it from your configuration entirely, the Apache Web server
104 will behave as though you set it to a particular value), it is
105 described here. If there is no default value, this section
106 should say "<em>None</em>". Note that the default listed here
107 is not necessarily the same as the value the directive takes in
108 the default httpd.conf distributed with the server.</p>
109 </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div><div class="section"><h2><a name="Context" id="Context">Context</a></h2>
111 <p>This indicates where in the server's configuration files the
112 directive is legal. It's a comma-separated list of one or more
113 of the following values:</p>
116 <dt>server config</dt>
118 <dd>This means that the directive may be used in the server
119 configuration files (<em>e.g.</em>, <code>httpd.conf</code>), but
120 <strong>not</strong> within any
121 <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#virtualhost"><VirtualHost></a></code>
122 or <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#directory"><Directory></a></code>
123 containers. It is not allowed in <code>.htaccess</code> files
126 <dt>virtual host</dt>
128 <dd>This context means that the directive may appear inside
129 <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#virtualhost"><VirtualHost></a></code>
130 containers in the server
131 configuration files.</dd>
135 <dd>A directive marked as being valid in this context may be
136 used inside <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#directory"><Directory></a></code>,
137 <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#location"><Location></a></code>,
138 and <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#files"><Files></a></code>
139 containers in the server configuration files, subject to the
140 restrictions outlined in <a href="../sections.html">How
141 Directory, Location and Files sections work</a>.</dd>
145 <dd>If a directive is valid in this context, it means that it
146 can appear inside <em>per</em>-directory
147 <code>.htaccess</code> files. It may not be processed, though
148 depending upon the <a href="#Override">overrides</a> currently active.</dd>
151 <p>The directive is <em>only</em> allowed within the designated
152 context; if you try to use it elsewhere, you'll get a
153 configuration error that will either prevent the server from
154 handling requests in that context correctly, or will keep the
155 server from operating at all -- <em>i.e.</em>, the server won't
158 <p>The valid locations for the directive are actually the
159 result of a Boolean OR of all of the listed contexts. In other
160 words, a directive that is marked as being valid in
161 "<code>server config, .htaccess</code>" can be used in the
162 <code>httpd.conf</code> file and in <code>.htaccess</code>
163 files, but not within any <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#directory"><Directory></a></code> or
164 <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#virtualhost"><VirtualHost></a></code>
166 </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div><div class="section"><h2><a name="Override" id="Override">Override</a></h2>
168 <p>This directive attribute indicates which configuration
169 override must be active in order for the directive to be
170 processed when it appears in a <code>.htaccess</code> file. If
171 the directive's <a href="#Context">context</a>
172 doesn't permit it to appear in <code>.htaccess</code> files,
173 then no context will be listed.</p>
175 <p>Overrides are activated by the <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#allowoverride">AllowOverride</a></code> directive, and apply
176 to a particular scope (such as a directory) and all
177 descendants, unless further modified by other
178 <code class="directive"><a href="../mod/core.html#allowoverride">AllowOverride</a></code> directives at
179 lower levels. The documentation for that directive also lists the
180 possible override names available.</p>
181 </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div><div class="section"><h2><a name="Status" id="Status">Status</a></h2>
183 <p>This indicates how tightly bound into the Apache Web server
184 the directive is; in other words, you may need to recompile the
185 server with an enhanced set of modules in order to gain access
186 to the directive and its functionality. Possible values for
187 this attribute are:</p>
192 <dd>If a directive is listed as having "Core" status, that
193 means it is part of the innermost portions of the Apache Web
194 server, and is always available.</dd>
198 <dd>A directive labeled as having "MPM" status is provided by
199 a <a href="../mpm.html">Multi-Processing Module</a>. This
200 type of directive will be available if and only if you are
201 using one of the MPMs listed on the <a href="#Module">Module</a> line of the directive
206 <dd>A directive labeled as having "Base" status is supported
207 by one of the standard Apache modules which is compiled into
208 the server by default, and is therefore normally available
209 unless you've taken steps to remove the module from your
214 <dd>A directive with "Extension" status is provided by one of
215 the modules included with the Apache server kit, but the
216 module isn't normally compiled into the server. To enable the
217 directive and its functionality, you will need to change the
218 server build configuration files and re-compile Apache.</dd>
220 <dt>Experimental</dt>
222 <dd>"Experimental" status indicates that the directive is
223 available as part of the Apache kit, but you're on your own
224 if you try to use it. The directive is being documented for
225 completeness, and is not necessarily supported. The module
226 which provides the directive may or may not be compiled in by
227 default; check the top of the page which describes the
228 directive and its module to see if it remarks on the
231 </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div><div class="section"><h2><a name="Module" id="Module">Module</a></h2>
233 <p>This quite simply lists the name of the source module which
234 defines the directive.</p>
235 </div><div class="top"><a href="#page-header"><img alt="top" src="../images/up.gif" /></a></div><div class="section"><h2><a name="Compatibility" id="Compatibility">Compatibility</a></h2>
237 <p>If the directive wasn't part of the original Apache version
238 2 distribution, the version in which it was introduced should
239 be listed here. In addition, if the directive is available
240 only on certain platforms, it will be noted here.</p>
241 </div></div><div id="footer"><p class="apache">Maintained by the <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/docs-project/">Apache HTTP Server Documentation Project</a></p><p class="menu"><a href="../mod/">Modules</a> | <a href="../mod/directives.html">Directives</a> | <a href="../faq/">FAQ</a> | <a href="../glossary.html">Glossary</a> | <a href="../sitemap.html">Sitemap</a></p></div></body></html>