NameTrans

Next, the server executes a NameTrans directive in the default object to map the logical URL of the requested resource to a physical path name on the server’s file system. The server looks at each NameTrans directive in the default object in turn, until it finds one that can be applied.

If there is more than one NameTrans directive in the default object, the server considers each directive until one succeeds.

The NameTrans section in the default object must contain exactly one directive that invokes the document-root function. This function translates the http://server_name/part of the requested URL to a physical directory that has been designated as the server’s document root. For example:

NameTrans fn="document-root" root="D:/Sun/WebServer61/server1/docs"

The directive that invokes document-root must be the last directive in the NameTrans section so that it is executed if no other NameTrans directive is applicable.

The pfx2dir (prefix to directory) function is used to set up additional mappings between URLs and directories. For example, the following directive translates the URL http://server_name/cgi/ into the directory path name D:/Sun/WebServer61/server1/docs/mycgi/:

NameTrans fn="pfx2dir" from="/cgi" dir="D:/Sun/WebServer61/server1/docs/mycgi"

Notice that if this directive appeared after the one that calls document-root, it would never be executed, with the result that the resultant directory path name would be D:/Sun/WebServer61/server1/docs/cgi/ (not mycgi). This illustrates why the directive that invokes document-root must be the last one in the NameTrans section.

How and When the Server Processes Other Objects

As a result of executing a NameTrans directive, the server might start processing directives in another object. This happens if the NameTrans directive that was successfully executed specifies a name or generates a partial path that matches the name or ppath attribute of another object.

If the successful NameTrans directive assigns a name by specifying a name argument, the server starts processing directives in the named object (defined with the OBJECT tag) before processing directives in the default object for the rest of the request-handling process.

For example, the following NameTrans directive in the default object assigns the name cgi to any request whose URL starts with http://server_name/cgi/.

<Object name="default">
...
NameTrans fn="pfx2dir" from="/cgi" 
dir="D:/Sun/WebServer61/server1/docs/mycgi" name="cgi"
...
</Object>

When that NameTrans directive is executed, the server starts processing directives in the object named cgi:

<Object name="cgi">
more directives...
</Object>

When a NameTrans directive has been successfully executed, there will be a physical path name associated with the requested resource. If the resultant path name matches the ppath (partial path) attribute of another object, the server starts processing directives in the other object before processing directives in the default object for the rest of the request-handling process.

For example, suppose obj.conf contains an object as follows:

<Object ppath="*internal*">
more directives...
</Object>

Now suppose the successful NameTrans directive translates the requested URL to the path name D:/Sun/WebServer61/server1/docs/internalplan1.html. In this case, the partial path *internal* matches the path D:/Sun/WebServer61/server1/docs/internalplan1.html. So now the server would start processing the directives in this object before processing the remaining directives in the default object.