IndexIgnore list

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Stuart McGraw [mailto:smcg4191frii.com]

> Sent: Donnerstag, 30. März 2006 11:41
> 
> Please take my comment in the context on someone using
Apache 
> for the first time, starting yesterday.  I am pretty
clueless.
>  I said "surely" because without the
ability to override the 
> list in subdirectories, it seems like its usefulness is
hugely 
> limited.  

No problem, I completely understand your position 

I understand that you have a particular application in mind
and have found that apache doesn't easily support it. So
from your POV, that's obviously a limitation. All the same,
I've been on this list for a few years and you're the
first person to ask this question so I wouldn't say people
are exactly clamouring for it...

Whenever you run up against a brick wall like this, it's
always worth checking if you're really going the right way.
I guess that you have a large directory hierarchy and you
want to use apache as a file-system browser. But, you want
to mask certain files in certain directories on a fairly ad
hoc basis. As we see, you can't switch on and off
IndexIgnore on a per-directory basis so maybe you have to
think about the directory structure and/or the filenaming
conventions? 

For example, AFAIK, IndexIgnore is additive going *down* the
hierarchy but resets itself going *across* the filesystem,
eg:

/dir1
  IndexIgnore .abc
  /dir1/subdir1
    IndexIgnore .def
	--> .abc and .def ignored in /dir1/subdir1
/dir2
  IndexIgnore .uvw
  /dir1/subdir2
    IndexIgnore .xyz
	--> .uvw and .xyz ignored in /dir2/subdir2

So maybe by re-arranging your files, you can get the result
you want?

> There is no natural reason that subdirectories would 
> always want to have more restrictions on what files are
shown, 
> than their parent's directories is there?  And it
seems unreasonable 
> to require a directory hierarchy to be determined by
which ones 
> have the most restrictive ignore lists.  So, the ignore
list is 
> in generally only going to be useful if it is a global
setting, 
> applied to all directories.  To me this seems
unnaturally 
> restrictive, 
> to a degree that I found it hard to believe that a
product as 
> mature as Apache would have a restriction like this. 

It sounds a bit like you think that the main reason apache
was invented was to allow filesystem browsing 

In fact, this functionality is almost a bonus feature... I
guess the ignore feature was added in emulation of the
similar feature in CVS, and that's additive too :-(

BTW, I wouldn't really call it a restriction - rather, you
desire a functionality that isn't present. Apache can't
make tea either, but I wouldn't say it has a no-tea-making
restriction...

Rgds,
Owen Boyle
Disclaimer: Any disclaimer attached to this message may be
ignored. 

> But perhaps 
> I misunderstand it's purpose...I am a very much a
newbie.
> 
> > Wacky off-the-top-of-my-head, untried, untested
"workarounds":
> > 
> > - Make a separate VH, on port 8080 for example,
with 
> docroot set to the target dir and have no IndexIgnore
in this VH. 
> > Then, in the main VH, proxy requests for that dir
to the 
> port 8080 VH. Maybe that would work? 
> 
> I'll look into this tomorrow but it seems like driving
100 miles up 
> one side of a river, crossing, and driving back down
the other 
> side, because there is no local bridge.  :-(
> 
> > - a one-off hack to suit your situation: Extend
the 
> add_ignore method so that if it encounters a certain
pattern (eg, 
> > CLEAR_INDEX_IGNORE_LIST), then it empties the
array. You 
> could then put "IndexIgnore
CLEAR_INDEX_IGNORE_LIST" in the 
> > directory you want to free up. [NB - no idea if
this would 
> really work - it might clear the list for all dirs!)
> 
> You're talking about modifying the code and
rebuilding?
> 
> Hmm, I think I will rethink my requirements.  But I do
very much 
> appreciate getting your thoughts on this.
> 
> 
>
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