[users@httpd] Re: Apache/2.2.9, Windows XP/Vista, Relative paths do work, but why?

[ota mares <ot...@googlemail.com>]

I found out that all paths except the directory directives are
relative to the provided document root.

The directory directive paths are all relative to the current
execution path which is set by the bat file to the same directory as
where the bat is stored.
The START CMD Command (http://www.ss64.com/nt/start.html) provides the
option /D which allows you to change the execution dir to a custom
path, so i was able to confirm my theory by changing it to random
paths and editing the directory directives to the correct relative
path.

It would be nice if someone who has more insight than me could confirm this?

On Tue, Jun 24, 2008 at 15:19, ota mares <ot...@googlemail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> i am currently toying around with my own local WAMP installation and
> found out that though everyone tells me relative directory and alias
> paths do not work, they DO work!
> Unfortunately i am unable to find any information on that behaviour so
> that's why i am turning to the mailing list :-)
>
> The whole project can be downloaded from the following URI and i
> recommend to take a look at it for easier understanding.
> http://ohne-ziel.de/projects/LDE/LDE-0.6.0.rar
>
>
> The functionality is pretty simple, apache-start.bat calls the
> httpd.exe with the -d and -c config parameters.
> The serverroot will be set to the current working directory, the most
> upper directory of the whole project, so if you assume the whole
> project is in "C:/LDE-0.6.0/" the serverrot gets set to
> "C:/LDE-0.6.0/" ;)
>
> All paths are setup to be relative to that directory. And here is the
> clue, even relative directory directives work. Check out line 193 to
> 198 of the apache.conf in the "configuration/" dir. It clearly allows
> access to the default documentroot and shows the directory listing
> when you visit http://localhost.
>
> <Directory "srv/www/localhost/">
>    Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
>    AllowOverride All
>    Order allow,deny
>    Allow from all
> </Directory>
>
> Another validation is that icons in the directory listings work, look
> at the autoindex.conf in the "configuration/apache/" directory. All
> paths are relative even the alias directive.
>
> The last testcase would be to call http://localhost/~phptest/ which
> shows up the phpinfo. All directory calls with a tilde will be routed
> to another docroot via an aliasmatch directive to avoid host file
> editing.
>
> I tested it on two machines Windows XP and Vista and it allways worked.
>
> If you download my test project you can easily confirm that everything
> works as i wrote here. To start the server, simply unpack it anywhere
> you want and doubleclicke the apache-start.bat.
>
> I assume that the paths get appended to the serverroot but the
> documentation explicitly says that directory directives have to be
> absolute?
> Please, could anyone explain then to me why it works or if i made an
> error somewhere or simply i am just plain stupid to read the docs? :-)
>
> Before anyone misunderstands me, i am glad it works that way, this
> behaviours saves me to parse and create tmp config files, i just would
> like to know why!
>
> Thanks & Regards
> Ota
>

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