in reply to (OT) Protecting Content

You simply put foo.txt outside your server's document path and modify the Perl code to read it there instead of wherever you have it now. A Perl CGI can read any file on the system it has permission to read.

----
: () { :|:& };:

Note: All code is untested, unless otherwise stated

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Protecting Content
by b10m (Vicar) on Feb 18, 2004 at 17:06 UTC

    That would still allow people to view the contents through the "direct URL" (using the script) eg, http://www.mysite.com/?file=foo.txt, but maybe I don't understand the question right.

    --
    b10m

    All code is usually tested, but rarely trusted.
[reply]
      I think the key line is: How can I allow access to content via a script, but dissallow it via a direct URL?

      So accessing via the cgi is what he wants, just not accessing the file directly. The simple solution is to put the file(s) in a directory that is accessible by the apache user (or cgi user) but not under the document root. The CGI would then be responsible for verifying the session/auth and presenting the file if it needs to, or the error page if the file access is not allowed.


      -Waswas
[reply]

      My understanding is that the poster wants to allow a CGI to print out the file (presumably because the CGI handles password protections itself), but wants to make sure that the file isn't available without going through the CGI.

      ----
      : () { :|:& };:

      Note: All code is untested, unless otherwise stated

[reply]
[d/l]

In Section Seekers of Perl Wisdom