[users@httpd] intermittent errors with Files directive in .htaccess

[Jeffrey Chiu <je...@drunkenchipmunk.com>]

I've been having a problem with a university web server, running Apache 
1.3.26 on AIX. I'd write to the support folks at school, but they seem 
clueless about a lot of things, and the strangeness and intermittent 
frequency of the errors might suggest a deeper problem than 
misconfiguration. I'm hoping I've just overlooked something though.

I have an .htaccess file in a subdirectory that reads as follows:

AuthType Basic
AuthName "Protected Files"
AuthUserFile .htpasswd
<Files test.shtml>
Require user mytestuser
</Files>

This seems to work as expected. When I authenticate with the proper 
username/password, the server will send the .shtml file, with the 
server-side includes correctly processed. However, if I keep reloading the 
page, sometimes I get the "[an error occurred while processing this 
directive]" where my includes are in the test.shtml file. (In fact, I kinda 
lied-- the very first page load isn't always successful: sometimes it gives 
this error too for includes)

If I omit the Files directive in .htaccess and password protect the entire 
directory, this problem disappears.

Anyone experienced anything like this before? Have I overlooked something? 
Is it a bug I should report?

Thanks for any help,
Jeff


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