in reply to reading binary files in windows

Wouldn't it be easier to do a redirect? You are in fact just writing your own webserver here. I suppose you have a good reason to give them the correct data from the wrong URL tho. I've seen a site where half the content was at /error.pl before. Plays havok with caching =) Your webserver at least TRYS to give good header...

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RE: RE: reading binary files in windows
by Fastolfe (Vicar) on Oct 27, 2000 at 10:45 UTC
    A redirect implies that the URL they requested does have valid content. If you're returning something to the browser in a 404 status, it makes sense not to cache it, since a) there is no "url" associated with the content (we have to let the browser know it's a bad url, right? 404!) and b) what happens when content appears at this URL? Do we really want to cache a '404' mesage?

    Many browsers also disregard the content to pages delivered in 404 status, opting for their own simple message instead.

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      But by writing my own handler it doesn't show up as a 404. This is a "temporary" solution to a problem on a site that just rolled out with 6000+ products that have about 30 images each... Any image that is requested under a product directory with a certain name I display a certain "art is missing" image. It's just an interum solution till they art department can catch up.
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        If you're putting valid content at a URL via a 404 handler, just be sure your script prints out a "Status: 200 OK" header to override the server's 404 status message so that it appears normally. This has the added benefit of allowing search engines to pick up the page, where they would discard it otherwise with a 404 message.
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[d/l]
RE: RE: reading binary files in windows
by merlyn (Sage) on Oct 27, 2000 at 07:55 UTC
    You can't redirect to a URL that is outside the docroot though. So this method permits the dumping of an image that lives outside the tree.

    -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker

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