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21.3. The Module Structure

Now we will look in detail at each entry in the module structure. We examine the entries in the order in which they are used, which is not the order in which they appear in the structure, and we also show how they are used in the standard Apache modules. We will also note the differences between versions 1.3 and 2.0 of Apache as we go along.

Create Per-Directory Config Structure

void *module_create_dir_config(pool *pPool,char *szDir)

This structure is called once per module, with szDir set to NULL, when the main host's configuration is initialized and again for each <Directory>, <Location>, or <File> section in the Config files containing a directive from this module, with szPath set to the directory. Any per-directory directives found outside <Directory>, <Location>, or <File> sections end up in the NULL configuration. It is also called when .htaccess files are parsed, with the name of the directory in which they reside. Because this function is used for .htaccess files, it may also be called after the initializer is called. Also, the core caches per-directory configurations arising from .htaccess files for the duration of a request, so this function is called only once per directory with an .htaccess file.

If a module does not support per-directory configuration, any directives that appear in a <Directory> section override the per-server configuration unless precautions are taken. The usual way to avoid this is to set the req _overrides member appropriately in the command table — see later in this section.

The purpose of this function is to allocate and initialize the memory required for any per-directory configuration. It returns a pointer to the allocated memory. See Example 21-2 (1.3) for an excerpt from mod_rewrite.c.

Example

Example 21-2. mod_rewrite.c

static void *config_perdir_create(pool *p, char *path)
{
    rewrite_perdir_conf *a;

    a = (rewrite_perdir_conf *)ap_pcalloc(p, sizeof(rewrite_perdir_conf));

    a->state           = ENGINE_DISABLED;
    a->options         = OPTION_NONE;
    a->baseurl         = NULL;
    a->rewriteconds    = ap_make_array(p, 2, sizeof(rewritecond_entry));
    a->rewriterules    = ap_make_array(p, 2, sizeof(rewriterule_entry));

    if (path == NULL) {
        a->directory = NULL;
    }
    else {
        /* make sure it has a trailing slash */
        if (path[strlen(path)-1] == '/') {
            a->directory = ap_pstrdup(p, path);
        }
        else {
            a->directory = ap_pstrcat(p, path, "/", NULL);
        }
    }

    return (void *)a;
}

This function allocates memory for a rewrite_ perdir_conf structure (defined elsewhere in mod_rewrite.c) and initializes it. Since this function is called for every <Directory> section, regardless of whether it contains any rewriting directives, the initialization makes sure the engine is disabled unless specifically enabled later.

The only changes for 2.0 in this are that pool becomes apr_pool_t and ap_pcalloc( ) becomes apr_pcalloc( ).

Per-Server Merger

void *module_merge_server(pool *pPool, void *base_conf, void *new_conf)

Once the Config files have been read, this function is called once for each virtual host, with base_conf pointing to the main server's configuration (for this module) and new_conf pointing to the virtual host's configuration. This gives you the opportunity to inherit any unset options in the virtual host from the main server or to merge the main server's entries into the virtual server, if appropriate. It returns a pointer to the new configuration structure for the virtual host (or it just returns new_conf, if appropriate).

It is possible that future changes to Apache will allow merging of hosts other than the main one, so don't rely on base_conf pointing to the main server. See Example 21-4 (1.3) for an excerpt from mod_cgi.c.

Example

Example 21-4. mod_cgi.c

static void *merge_cgi_config(pool *p, void *basev, void *overridesv)
{
    cgi_server_conf *base = (cgi_server_conf *) basev, *overrides = (cgi_server_conf *) 
overridesv;

    return overrides->logname ? overrides : base;
}

Although this example is exceedingly trivial, a per-server merger can, in principle, do anything a per-directory merger does — it's just that in most cases it makes more sense to do things per-directory, so the interesting examples can be found there. This example does serve to illustrate a point of confusion — often the overriding configuration is called overrides (or some variant thereof), which to our ears implies the exact opposite precedence to that desired.

Again, the only change in 2.0 is that pool has become apr_pool_t.

Per-Directory Merger

void *module_dir_merge(pool *pPool, void *base_conf, void *new_conf)

Like the per-server merger, this is called once for each virtual host (not for each directory). It is handed the per-server document root per-directory Config (that is, the one that was created with a NULL directory name).

Whenever a request is processed, this function merges all relevant <Directory> sections and then merges .htacess files (interleaved, starting at the root and working downward), then <File> and <Location> sections, in that order.

Unlike the per-server merger, per-directory merger is called as the server runs, possibly with different combinations of directory, location, and file configurations for each request, so it is important that it copies the configuration (in new_conf) if it is going to change it.

Now the reason we chose mod_rewrite.c for the per-directory creator becomes apparent, as it is a little more interesting than most. See Example 21-5.

Example

Example 21-5. mod_rewrite.c

static void *config_perdir_merge(pool *p, void *basev, void *overridesv)
{
    rewrite_perdir_conf *a, *base, *overrides;
    a     = (rewrite_perdir_conf *)pcalloc(p, sizeof(rewrite_perdir_conf));
    base  = (rewrite_perdir_conf *)basev;
    overrides = (rewrite_perdir_conf *)overridesv;

    a->state           = overrides->state;
    a->options         = overrides->options;
    a->directory       = overrides->directory;
    a->baseurl         = overrides->baseurl;
    if (a->options & OPTION_INHERIT) {
        a->rewriteconds = append_arrays(p, overrides->rewriteconds, 
             base->rewriteconds);
        a->rewriterules = append_arrays(p, overrides->rewriterules, 
             base->rewriterules);
    }
    else {
        a->rewriteconds = overrides->rewriteconds;
        a->rewriterules = overrides->rewriterules;
    }
    return (void *)a;
}

As you can see, this merges the configuration from the base conditionally, depending on whether the new configuration specified an INHERIT option.

Once more, the only change in 2.0 is that pool has become apr_pool_t. See Example 21-6 for an excerpt from mod_env.c.

Example 21-6. mod_env.c

static void *merge_env_dir_configs(pool *p, void *basev, void *addv)
{
    env_dir_config_rec *base = (env_dir_config_rec *) basev;
    env_dir_config_rec *add = (env_dir_config_rec *) addv;
    env_dir_config_rec *new =
    (env_dir_config_rec *) ap_palloc(p, sizeof(env_dir_config_rec));
    table *new_table;
    table_entry *elts;
    array_header *arr;
    int i;
    const char *uenv, *unset;

    new_table = ap_copy_table(p, base->vars);

    arr = ap_table_elts(add->vars);
    elts = (table_entry *)arr->elts;

    for (i = 0; i < arr->nelts; ++i) {
        ap_table_setn(new_table, elts[i].key, elts[i].val);
    }

    unset = add->unsetenv;
    uenv = ap_getword_conf(p, &unset);
    while (uenv[0] != '\0') {
        ap_table_unset(new_table, uenv);
        uenv = ap_getword_conf(p, &unset);
    }

    new->vars = new_table;

    new->vars_present = base->vars_present || add->vars_present;

    return new;
}

This function creates a new configuration into which it then copies the base vars table (a table of environment variable names and values). It then runs through the individual entries of the addv vars table, setting them in the new table. It does this rather than use overlay_tables( ) because overlay_tables( ) does not deal with duplicated keys. Then the addv configuration's unsetenv (which is a space-separated list of environment variables to unset) unsets any variables specified to be unset for addv 's server.

The 2.0 version of this function has a number of alterations, but on close inspection is actually very much the same, allowing for differences in function names and some rather radical restructuring:

static void *merge_env_dir_configs(apr_pool_t *p, void *basev, void *addv)
{
    env_dir_config_rec *base = basev;
    env_dir_config_rec *add = addv;
    env_dir_config_rec *res = apr_palloc(p, sizeof(*res));
    const apr_table_entry_t *elts;
    const apr_array_header_t *arr;
    int i;

    res->vars = apr_table_copy(p, base->vars);
    res->unsetenv = NULL;

    arr = apr_table_elts(add->unsetenv);
    elts = (const apr_table_entry_t *)arr->elts;

    for (i = 0; i < arr->nelts; ++i) {
        apr_table_unset(res->vars, elts[i].key);
    }

    arr = apr_table_elts(add->vars);
    elts = (const apr_table_entry_t *)arr->elts;

    for (i = 0; i < arr->nelts; ++i) {
        apr_table_setn(res->vars, elts[i].key, elts[i].val);
    }

    return res;
}
Command Table

command_rec aCommands[]

This structure points to an array of directives that configure the module. Each entry names a directive, specifies a function that will handle the command, and specifies which AllowOverride directives must be in force for the command to be permitted. Each entry then specifies how the directive's arguments are to be parsed and supplies an error message in case of syntax errors (such as the wrong number of arguments, or a directive used where it shouldn't be).

The definition of command_rec can be found in http_config.h:

typedef struct command_struct {
  const char *name;          /* Name of this command */
  const char *(*func)( );     /* Function invoked */
  void *cmd_data;            /* Extra data, for functions that
                              * implement multiple commands...
                              */
  int req_override;          /* What overrides need to be allowed to
                              * enable this command
                              */
  enum cmd_how args_how;     /* What the command expects as arguments */
  
  const char *errmsg;        /* 'usage' message, in case of syntax errors */
} command_rec;

Note that in 2.0 this definition is still broadly correct, but there's also a variant for compilers that allow designated initializers to permit the type-safe initialization of command_rec s.

cmd_how is defined as follows:

enum cmd_how {
  RAW_ARGS,                     /* cmd_func parses command line itself */
  TAKE1,                        /* one argument only */
  TAKE2,                        /* two arguments only */
  ITERATE,                      /* one argument, occurring multiple times
                                 * (e.g., IndexIgnore)
                                 */
  ITERATE2,                     /* two arguments, 2nd occurs multiple times
                                 * (e.g., AddIcon)
                                 */
  FLAG,                         /* One of 'On' or 'Off' */
  NO_ARGS,                      /* No args at all, e.g. </Directory> */
  TAKE12,                       /* one or two arguments */
  TAKE3,                        /* three arguments only */
  TAKE23,                       /* two or three arguments */
  TAKE123,                      /* one, two, or three arguments */
  TAKE13                        /* one or three arguments */
};

These options determine how the function func is called when the matching directive is found in a Config file, but first we must look at one more structure, cmd_parms:

typedef struct {
    void *info;                 /* Argument to command from cmd_table */
    int override;               /* Which allow-override bits are set */
    int limited;                /* Which methods are <Limit>ed */

    configfile_t *config_file;  /* Config file structure from pcfg_openfile( ) */

    ap_pool *pool;              /* Pool to allocate new storage in */
    struct pool *temp_pool;     /* Pool for scratch memory; persists during
                                 * configuration, but wiped before the first
                                 * request is served...
                                 */
    server_rec *server;         /* Server_rec being configured for */
    char *path;                 /* If configuring for a directory,
                                 * pathname of that directory.
                                 * NOPE!  That's what it meant previous to the
                                 * existance of <Files>, <Location> and regex
                                 * matching.  Now the only usefulness that can
                                 * be derived from this field is whether a command
                                 * is being called in a server context (path == NULL)
                                 * or being called in a dir context (path != NULL).
                                 */
    const command_rec *cmd;     /* configuration command */
    const char *end_token;      /* end token required to end a nested section */
    void *context;              /* per_dir_config vector passed 
                                 * to handle_command */
} cmd_parms;

This structure is filled in and passed to the function associated with each directive. Note that cmd_parms.info is filled in with the value of command_rec.cmd_data, allowing arbitrary extra information to be passed to the function. The function is also passed its per-directory configuration structure, if there is one, shown in the following function definitions as mconfig. The per-server configuration can be accessed by a call similar to:

ap_get_module_config(parms->server->module_config, &module_struct)

replacing module_struct with your own module's module structure. Extra information may also be passed, depending on the value of args_how :

RAW_ARGS
func(cmd_parms *parms, void *mconfig, char *args)

args is simply the rest of the line (that is, excluding the directive).

NO_ARGS
func(cmd_parms *parms, void *mconfig)

TAKE1
func(cmd_parms *parms, void *mconfig, char *w)

w is the single argument to the directive.

TAKE2, TAKE12
func(cmd_parms *parms, void *mconfig, char *w1, char *w2)

w1 and w2 are the two arguments to the directive. TAKE12 means the second argument is optional. If absent, w2 is NULL.

TAKE3, TAKE13, TAKE23, TAKE123
func(cmd_parms *parms, void *mconfig, char *w1, char *w2, char *w3)

w1, w2, and w3 are the three arguments to the directive. TAKE13, TAKE23, and TAKE123 mean that the directive takes one or three, two or three, and one, two, or three arguments, respectively. Missing arguments are NULL.

ITERATE
func(cmd_parms *parms, void *mconfig, char *w)

func is called repeatedly, once for each argument following the directive.

ITERATE2
func(cmd_parms *parms, void *mconfig, char *w1, char *w2)

There must be at least two arguments. func is called once for each argument, starting with the second. The first is passed to func every time.

FLAG
func(cmd_parms *parms, void *mconfig, int f)

The argument must be either On or Off. If On, then f is nonzero; if Off, f is zero.

In 2.0 each of the previous has its own macro to define it, to allow for type-safe initialization where supported by the compiler entries. So instead of directly using the flag ITERATE, for example, you would instead use the macro AP_INIT_ITERATE to fill in the command_rec structure.

req_override can be any combination of the following (OR ed together):

#define OR_NONE 0
#define OR_LIMIT 1
#define OR_OPTIONS 2
#define OR_FILEINFO 4
#define OR_AUTHCFG 8
#define OR_INDEXES 16
#define OR_UNSET 32
#define ACCESS_CONF 64
#define RSRC_CONF 128
#define OR_ALL (OR_LIMIT|OR_OPTIONS|OR_FILEINFO|OR_AUTHCFG|OR_INDEXES)

2.0 adds one extra option:

#define EXEC_ON_READ 256     /**< force directive to execute a command 
                             which would modify the configuration (like including
                             another file, or IFModule */

This flag defines the circumstances under which a directive is permitted. The logical AND of this field and the current override state must be nonzero for the directive to be allowed. In configuration files, the current override state is:

RSRC_CONF|OR_OPTIONS|OR_FILEINFO|OR_INDEXES

when outside a <Directory> section, and it is:

ACCESS_CONF|OR_LIMIT|OR_OPTIONS|OR_FILEINFO|OR_AUTHCFG|OR_INDEXES

when inside a <Directory> section.

In .htaccess files, the state is determined by the AllowOverride directive. See Example 21-7 (1.3) for an excerpt from mod_mime.c.

Example

Example 21-7. mod_mime.c

static const command_rec mime_cmds[] =
{
    {"AddType", add_type, NULL, OR_FILEINFO, ITERATE2,
     "a mime type followed by one or more file extensions"},
    {"AddEncoding", add_encoding, NULL, OR_FILEINFO, ITERATE2,
     "an encoding (e.g., gzip), followed by one or more file extensions"},
    {"AddCharset", add_charset, NULL, OR_FILEINFO, ITERATE2,
     "a charset (e.g., iso-2022-jp), followed by one or more file extensions"},
    {"AddLanguage", add_language, NULL, OR_FILEINFO, ITERATE2,
     "a language (e.g., fr), followed by one or more file extensions"},
    {"AddHandler", add_handler, NULL, OR_FILEINFO, ITERATE2,
     "a handler name followed by one or more file extensions"},
    {"ForceType", ap_set_string_slot_lower, 
     (void *)XtOffsetOf(mime_dir_config, type), OR_FILEINFO, TAKE1, 
     "a media type"},
    {"RemoveHandler", remove_handler, NULL, OR_FILEINFO, ITERATE,
     "one or more file extensions"},
    {"RemoveEncoding", remove_encoding, NULL, OR_FILEINFO, ITERATE,
     "one or more file extensions"},
    {"RemoveType", remove_type, NULL, OR_FILEINFO, ITERATE,
     "one or more file extensions"},
    {"SetHandler", ap_set_string_slot_lower, 
     (void *)XtOffsetOf(mime_dir_config, handler), OR_FILEINFO, TAKE1, 
     "a handler name"},
    {"TypesConfig", set_types_config, NULL, RSRC_CONF, TAKE1,
     "the MIME types config file"},
    {"DefaultLanguage", ap_set_string_slot,
     (void*)XtOffsetOf(mime_dir_config, default_language), OR_FILEINFO, TAKE1,
     "language to use for documents with no other language file extension" },
    {NULL}
};

Note the use of set_string_slot( ). This standard function uses the offset defined in cmd_data, using XtOffsetOf to set a char* in the per-directory configuration of the module. See Example 21-8 (2.0) for an excerpt from mod_mime.c.

Example 21-8. mod_mime.c

static const command_rec mime_cmds[] =
{
AP_INIT_ITERATE2("AddCharset", add_extension_info, 
         (void *)APR_XtOffsetOf(extension_info, charset_type), OR_FILEINFO,
     "a charset (e.g., iso-2022-jp), followed by one or more file extensions"),
AP_INIT_ITERATE2("AddEncoding", add_extension_info, 
         (void *)APR_XtOffsetOf(extension_info, encoding_type), OR_FILEINFO,
     "an encoding (e.g., gzip), followed by one or more file extensions"),
AP_INIT_ITERATE2("AddHandler", add_extension_info, 
         (void *)APR_XtOffsetOf(extension_info, handler), OR_FILEINFO,
     "a handler name followed by one or more file extensions"),
AP_INIT_ITERATE2("AddInputFilter", add_extension_info, 
         (void *)APR_XtOffsetOf(extension_info, input_filters), OR_FILEINFO,
     "input filter name (or ; delimited names) followed by one or more file extensions"),
AP_INIT_ITERATE2("AddLanguage", add_extension_info, 
         (void *)APR_XtOffsetOf(extension_info, language_type), OR_FILEINFO,
     "a language (e.g., fr), followed by one or more file extensions"),
AP_INIT_ITERATE2("AddOutputFilter", add_extension_info, 
         (void *)APR_XtOffsetOf(extension_info, output_filters), OR_FILEINFO, 
     "output filter name (or ; delimited names) followed by one or more file extensions"),
AP_INIT_ITERATE2("AddType", add_extension_info, 
         (void *)APR_XtOffsetOf(extension_info, forced_type), OR_FILEINFO, 
     "a mime type followed by one or more file extensions"),
AP_INIT_TAKE1("DefaultLanguage", ap_set_string_slot,
       (void*)APR_XtOffsetOf(mime_dir_config, default_language), OR_FILEINFO,
     "language to use for documents with no other language file extension"),
AP_INIT_ITERATE("MultiviewsMatch", multiviews_match, NULL, OR_FILEINFO,
     "NegotiatedOnly (default), Handlers and/or Filters, or Any"),
AP_INIT_ITERATE("RemoveCharset", remove_extension_info, 
        (void *)APR_XtOffsetOf(extension_info, charset_type), OR_FILEINFO,
     "one or more file extensions"),
AP_INIT_ITERATE("RemoveEncoding", remove_extension_info, 
        (void *)APR_XtOffsetOf(extension_info, encoding_type), OR_FILEINFO,
     "one or more file extensions"),
AP_INIT_ITERATE("RemoveHandler", remove_extension_info, 
        (void *)APR_XtOffsetOf(extension_info, handler), OR_FILEINFO,
     "one or more file extensions"),
AP_INIT_ITERATE("RemoveInputFilter", remove_extension_info, 
        (void *)APR_XtOffsetOf(extension_info, input_filters), OR_FILEINFO,
     "one or more file extensions"),
AP_INIT_ITERATE("RemoveLanguage", remove_extension_info, 
        (void *)APR_XtOffsetOf(extension_info, language_type), OR_FILEINFO,
     "one or more file extensions"),
AP_INIT_ITERATE("RemoveOutputFilter", remove_extension_info, 
        (void *)APR_XtOffsetOf(extension_info, output_filters), OR_FILEINFO,
     "one or more file extensions"),
AP_INIT_ITERATE("RemoveType", remove_extension_info, 
        (void *)APR_XtOffsetOf(extension_info, forced_type), OR_FILEINFO,
     "one or more file extensions"),
AP_INIT_TAKE1("TypesConfig", set_types_config, NULL, RSRC_CONF,
     "the MIME types config file"),
    {NULL}
};

As you can see, this uses the macros to initialize the structure. Also note that set_string_slot( ) has become ap_set_string_slot( ).

Initializer

void module_init(server_rec *pServer, pool *pPool) [1.3]
int module_post_config(apr_pool_t *pPool, apr_pool_t *pLog, apr_pool_t *pTemp, 
                       server_rec *pServer) [2.0]

In 1.3 this is the init hook, but in 2.0 it has been renamed, more accurately, to post_config.

In 2.0 the three pools provided are, in order, pPool, a pool that lasts until the configuration is changed, corresponding to pPool in 1.3; pLog, a pool that is cleared after each read of the configuration file (remembering it is read twice for each reconfiguration) intended for log files; and ptemp, a temporary pool that is cleared after configuration is complete (and perhaps more often than that).

This function is called after the server configuration files have been read but before any requests are handled. Like the configuration functions, it is called each time the server is reconfigured, so care must be taken to make sure it behaves correctly on the second and subsequent calls. This is the last function to be called before Apache forks the request-handling children. pServer is a pointer to the server_rec for the main host. pPool is a pool that persists until the server is reconfigured. Note that, at least in the current version of Apache:

pServer->server_hostname

may not yet be initialized. If the module is going to add to the version string with ap_add_version_component( ), then this is a good place to do it.

It is possible to iterate through all the server configurations by following the next member of pServer, as in the following:

for( ; pServer ; pServer=pServer->next)
    ;

See Example 21-9 (1.3) for an excerpt from mod_mime.c.

Example

Example 21-9. mod_mime.c

#define MIME_HASHSIZE (32)
#define hash(i) (ap_tolower(i) % MIME_HASHSIZE)

static table *hash_buckets[MIME_HASHSIZE];

static void init_mime(server_rec *s, pool *p)
{
    configfile_t *f;
    char l[MAX_STRING_LEN];
    int x;
    char *types_confname = ap_get_module_config(s->module_config, &mime_module);

    if (!types_confname)
        types_confname = TYPES_CONFIG_FILE;

    types_confname = ap_server_root_relative(p, types_confname);

    if (!(f = ap_pcfg_openfile(p, types_confname))) {
        ap_log_error(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_ERR, s,
"could not open mime types log file %s.", types_confname);
        exit(1);
    }

    for (x = 0; x < MIME_HASHSIZE; x++)
        hash_buckets[x] = ap_make_table(p, 10);

    while (!(ap_cfg_getline(l, MAX_STRING_LEN, f))) {
        const char *ll = l, *ct;

        if (l[0] == '#')
            continue;
        ct = ap_getword_conf(p, &ll);

        while (ll[0]) {
            char *ext = ap_getword_conf(p, &ll);
            ap_str_tolower(ext);   /* ??? */
            ap_table_setn(hash_buckets[hash(ext[0])], ext, ct);
        }
    }
    ap_cfg_closefile(f);
}

The same function in mod_mime.c uses a hash provided by APR instead of building its own, as shown in Example 21-10 (2.0).

Example 21-10. mod_mime.c

static apr_hash_t *mime_type_extensions;

static int mime_post_config(apr_pool_t *p, apr_pool_t *plog, apr_pool_t *ptemp, server_rec *s)
{
    ap_configfile_t *f;
    char l[MAX_STRING_LEN];
    const char *types_confname = ap_get_module_config(s->module_config, &mime_module);
    apr_status_t status;

    if (!types_confname)
        types_confname = AP_TYPES_CONFIG_FILE;

    types_confname = ap_server_root_relative(p, types_confname);

    if ((status = ap_pcfg_openfile(&f, ptemp, types_confname)) != APR_SUCCESS) {
        ap_log_error(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_ERR, status, s,
		     "could not open mime types config file %s.", types_confname);
        return HTTP_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR;
    }

    mime_type_extensions = apr_hash_make(p);

    while (!(ap_cfg_getline(l, MAX_STRING_LEN, f))) {
        const char *ll = l, *ct;

        if (l[0] == '#')
            continue;
        ct = ap_getword_conf(p, &ll);

        while (ll[0]) {
            char *ext = ap_getword_conf(p, &ll);
            ap_str_tolower(ext);   /* ??? */
            apr_hash_set(mime_type_extensions, ext, APR_HASH_KEY_STRING, ct);
        }
    }
    ap_cfg_closefile(f);
    return OK;
}
Child Initialization

static void 
module_child_init(server_rec *pServer,pool *pPool)

An Apache server may consist of many processes (on Unix, for example) or a single process with many threads (on Win32) or, in the future, a combination of the two. module_child_init( ) is called once for each instance of a heavyweight process, that is, whatever level of execution corresponds to a separate address space, file handles, etc. In the case of Unix, this is once per child process, but on Win32 it is called only once in total, not once per thread. This is because threads share address space and other resources. There is not currently a corresponding per-thread call, but there may be in the future. There is a corresponding call for child exit, described later in this chapter.

See Example 21-11 (1.3) for an excerpt from mod_unique_id.c.

Example

mod_unique_id.c 's purpose in life is to provide an ID for each request that is unique across all web servers everywhere (or, at least at a particular site). To do this, it uses various bits of uniqueness, including the process ID of the child and the time at which it was forked, which is why it uses this hook.

The same function in 2.0 is a little simpler, because APR takes away the platform dependencies:

static void unique_id_child_init(apr_pool_t *p, server_rec *s)
{
    pid_t pid;
    apr_time_t tv;

    pid = getpid( );
    cur_unique_id.pid = pid;
    if ((pid_t)cur_unique_id.pid != pid) {
        ap_log_error(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_NOERRNO|APLOG_CRIT, 0, s,
                    "oh no! pids are greater than 32-bits!  I'm broken!");
    }
    cur_unique_id.in_addr = global_in_addr;
    tv = apr_time_now( );
    cur_unique_id.counter = (unsigned short)(tv % APR_USEC_PER_SEC / 10);
    cur_unique_id.pid = htonl(cur_unique_id.pid);
    cur_unique_id.counter = htons(cur_unique_id.counter);
}
Post Read Request

static int module_post_read_request(request_rec *pReq)

This function is called immediately after the request headers have been read or, in the case of an internal redirect, synthesized. It is not called for subrequests. It can return OK, DECLINED, or a status code. If something other than DECLINED is returned, no further modules are called. This can be used to make decisions based purely on the header content. Currently, the only standard Apache module to use this hook is the proxy module.

See Example 21-12 for an excerpt from mod_proxy.c.

Example

Example 21-12. mod_proxy.c

static int proxy_detect(request_rec *r)
{
    void *sconf = r->server->module_config;
    proxy_server_conf *conf;

    conf = (proxy_server_conf *) ap_get_module_config(sconf, &proxy_module);

    if (conf->req && r->parsed_uri.scheme) {
        /* but it might be something vhosted */
       if (!(r->parsed_uri.hostname
            && !strcasecmp(r->parsed_uri.scheme, ap_http_method(r))
            && ap_matches_request_vhost(r, r->parsed_uri.hostname,
               r->parsed_uri.port_str ? r->parsed_uri.port : ap_default_port(r)))) {
            r->proxyreq = STD_PROXY;
            r->uri = r->unparsed_uri;
            r->filename = ap_pstrcat(r->pool, "proxy:", r->uri, NULL);
            r->handler = "proxy-server";
        }
    }
    /* We need special treatment for CONNECT proxying: it has no scheme part */
    else if (conf->req && r->method_number == M_CONNECT
             && r->parsed_uri.hostname
             && r->parsed_uri.port_str) {
            r->proxyreq = STD_PROXY;
            r->uri = r->unparsed_uri;
            r->filename = ap_pstrcat(r->pool, "proxy:", r->uri, NULL);
            r->handler = "proxy-server";
    }
    return DECLINED;
}

This code checks for a request that includes a hostname that does not match the current virtual host (which, since it will have been chosen on the basis of the hostname in the request, means it doesn't match any virtual host) or a CONNECT method (which only proxies use). If either of these conditions are true, the handler is set to proxy-server, and the filename is set to proxy:uri so that the later phases will be handled by the proxy module.

Apart from minor differences in naming of constants, this function is identical in 2.0.

Quick Handler (2.0)

int module_quick_handler(request_rec *r, int lookup_uri)

This function is intended to provide content from a URI-based cache. If lookup_uri is set, then it should simply return OK if the URI exists, but not provide the content.

The only example of this in 2.0 is in an experimental module, mod_cache.c, as shown in Example 21-13.

Example

Example 21-13. mod_cache.c

static int cache_url_handler(request_rec *r, int lookup)
{
    apr_status_t rv;
    const char *cc_in, *pragma, *auth;
    apr_uri_t uri = r->parsed_uri;
    char *url = r->unparsed_uri;
    apr_size_t urllen;
    char *path = uri.path;
    const char *types;
    cache_info *info = NULL;
    cache_request_rec *cache;
    cache_server_conf *conf = 
        (cache_server_conf *) ap_get_module_config(r->server->module_config, 
                                                   &cache_module);

    if (r->method_number != M_GET) return DECLINED;

    if (!(types = ap_cache_get_cachetype(r, conf, path))) {
        return DECLINED;
    }
    ap_log_error(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_DEBUG | APLOG_NOERRNO, 0, r->server,
                 "cache: URL %s is being handled by %s", path, types);

    urllen = strlen(url);
    if (urllen > MAX_URL_LENGTH) {
        ap_log_error(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_DEBUG | APLOG_NOERRNO, 0, r->server,
                     "cache: URL exceeds length threshold: %s", url);
        return DECLINED;
    }
    if (url[urllen-1] == '/') {
        return DECLINED;
    }

    cache = (cache_request_rec *) ap_get_module_config(r->request_config, 
                                                       &cache_module);
    if (!cache) {
        cache = ap_pcalloc(r->pool, sizeof(cache_request_rec));
        ap_set_module_config(r->request_config, &cache_module, cache);
    }

    cache->types = types;

    cc_in = apr_table_get(r->headers_in, "Cache-Control");
    pragma = apr_table_get(r->headers_in, "Pragma");
    auth = apr_table_get(r->headers_in, "Authorization");

    if (conf->ignorecachecontrol_set == 1 && conf->ignorecachecontrol == 1 && 
        auth == NULL) {
        ap_log_error(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_DEBUG | APLOG_NOERRNO, 0, r->server,
            "incoming request is asking for a uncached version of %s,
             but we know better and are ignoring it", url);
    }
    else {
        if (ap_cache_liststr(cc_in, "no-store", NULL) ||
            ap_cache_liststr(pragma, "no-cache", NULL) || (auth != NULL)) {
            /* delete the previously cached file */
            cache_remove_url(r, cache->types, url);

            ap_log_error(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_DEBUG | APLOG_NOERRNO, 0, r->server,
                        "cache: no-store forbids caching of %s", url);
            return DECLINED;
        }
    }

    rv = cache_select_url(r, cache->types, url);
    if (DECLINED == rv) {
        if (!lookup) {
           ap_log_error(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_DEBUG | APLOG_NOERRNO, 0, r->server,
                         "cache: no cache - add cache_in filter and DECLINE");
            ap_add_output_filter("CACHE_IN", NULL, r, r->connection);
        }
        return DECLINED;
    }
    else if (OK == rv) {
        if (cache->fresh) {
            apr_bucket_brigade *out;
            conn_rec *c = r->connection;

            if (lookup) {
                return OK;
            }
            ap_log_error(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_DEBUG | APLOG_NOERRNO, 0, r->server,
                         "cache: fresh cache - add cache_out filter and "
                         "handle request");

            ap_run_insert_filter(r);
            ap_add_output_filter("CACHE_OUT", NULL, r, r->connection);
            out = apr_brigade_create(r->pool, c->bucket_alloc);
            if (APR_SUCCESS != (rv = ap_pass_brigade(r->output_filters, out))) {
                ap_log_error(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_ERR, rv, r->server,
                             "cache: error returned while trying to return %s "
                             "cached data", 
                             cache->type);
                return rv;
            }
            return OK;
        }
        else {
            if (lookup) {
                return DECLINED;
            }

            ap_log_error(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_DEBUG | APLOG_NOERRNO, 0, r->server,
                         "cache: stale cache - test conditional");
            if (ap_cache_request_is_conditional(r)) {
                ap_log_error(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_DEBUG | APLOG_NOERRNO, 0, 
                             r->server,
                             "cache: conditional - add cache_in filter and "
                             "DECLINE");

                ap_add_output_filter("CACHE_IN", NULL, r, r->connection);

                return DECLINED;
            }
           else {
                if (info && info->etag) {
                    ap_log_error(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_DEBUG | APLOG_NOERRNO, 0, 
                                 r->server,
                                 "cache: nonconditional - fudge conditional "
                                 "by etag");
                    apr_table_set(r->headers_in, "If-None-Match", info->etag);
                }
                else if (info && info->lastmods) {
                    ap_log_error(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_DEBUG | APLOG_NOERRNO, 0, 
                                 r->server,
                                 "cache: nonconditional - fudge conditional "
                                 "by lastmod");
                    apr_table_set(r->headers_in, 
                                  "If-Modified-Since", 
                                  info->lastmods);
                }
                else {
                    ap_log_error(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_DEBUG | APLOG_NOERRNO, 0, 
                                 r->server,
                                 "cache: nonconditional - no cached "
                                 "etag/lastmods - add cache_in and DECLINE");

                    ap_add_output_filter("CACHE_IN", NULL, r, r->connection);

                    return DECLINED;
                }
                ap_log_error(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_DEBUG | APLOG_NOERRNO, 0, 
                             r->server,
                             "cache: nonconditional - add cache_conditional and"
                             " DECLINE");
                ap_add_output_filter("CACHE_CONDITIONAL", 
                                     NULL, 
                                     r, 
                                     r->connection);

                return DECLINED;
            }
        }
    }
    else {
        ap_log_error(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_ERR, rv, 
                     r->server,
                     "cache: error returned while checking for cached file by "
                     "%s cache", 
                     cache->type);
        return DECLINED;
    }
}

This is quite complex, but interesting — note the use of filters both to fill the cache and to generate the cached content for cache hits.

Translate Name

int module_translate(request_rec *pReq)

This function's task is to translate the URL in a request into a filename. The end result of its deliberations should be placed in pReq->filename. It should return OK, DECLINED, or a status code. The first module that doesn't return DECLINED is assumed to have done the job, and no further modules are called. Since the order in which modules are called is not defined, it is a good thing if the URLs handled by the modules are mutually exclusive. If all modules return DECLINED, a configuration error has occurred. Obviously, the function is likely to use the per-directory and per-server configurations (but note that at this stage, the per-directory configuration refers to the root configuration of the current server) to determine whether it should handle the request, as well as the URL itself (in pReq->uri). If a status is returned, the appropriate headers for the response should also be set in pReq->headers_out.

Naturally enough, Example 21-14 (1.3 and 2.0) comes from mod_alias.c:

Example

Example 21-14. mod_alias.c

static char *try_alias_list(request_rec *r, array_header *aliases, int doesc, int *status)
{
    alias_entry *entries = (alias_entry *) aliases->elts;
    regmatch_t regm[10];
    char *found = NULL;
    int i;

    for (i = 0; i < aliases->nelts; ++i) {
        alias_entry *p = &entries[i];
        int l;

        if (p->regexp) {
            if (!ap_regexec(p->regexp, r->uri, p->regexp->re_nsub + 1, regm, 0)) {
                if (p->real) {
                    found = ap_pregsub(r->pool, p->real, r->uri,
                                       p->regexp->re_nsub + 1, regm);
                    if (found && doesc) {
                        found = ap_escape_uri(r->pool, found);
                    }
                }
                else {
                    /* need something non-null */
                    found = ap_pstrdup(r->pool, "");
                }
            }
        }
        else {
            l = alias_matches(r->uri, p->fake);

            if (l > 0) {
                if (doesc) {
                    char *escurl;
                    escurl = ap_os_escape_path(r->pool, r->uri + l, 1);

                    found = ap_pstrcat(r->pool, p->real, escurl, NULL);
                }
                else
                    found = ap_pstrcat(r->pool, p->real, r->uri + l, NULL);
            }
        }

        if (found) {
            if (p->handler) {	/* Set handler, and leave a note for mod_cgi */
                r->handler = p->handler;
                ap_table_setn(r->notes, "alias-forced-type", r->handler);
            }

            *status = p->redir_status;

            return found;
        }
    }

    return NULL;
}

static int translate_alias_redir(request_rec *r)
{
    void *sconf = r->server->module_config;
    alias_server_conf *serverconf =
    (alias_server_conf *) ap_get_module_config(sconf, &alias_module);
    char *ret;
    int status;

    if (r->uri[0] != '/' && r->uri[0] != '\0')
	return DECLINED;

    if ((ret = try_alias_list(r, serverconf->redirects, 1, &status)) != NULL) {
        if (ap_is_HTTP_REDIRECT(status)) {
            /* include QUERY_STRING if any */
            if (r->args) {
                ret = ap_pstrcat(r->pool, ret, "?", r->args, NULL);
            }
            ap_table_setn(r->headers_out, "Location", ret);
        }
        return status;
    }

    if ((ret = try_alias_list(r, serverconf->aliases, 0, &status)) != NULL) {
        r->filename = ret;
        return OK;
    }

    return DECLINED;
}

First of all, this example tries to match a Redirect directive. If it does, the Location header is set in headers_out, and REDIRECT is returned. If not, it translates into a filename. Note that it may also set a handler (in fact, the only handler it can possibly set is cgi-script, which it does if the alias was created by a ScriptAlias directive). An interesting feature is that it sets a note for mod_cgi.c, namely alias-forced-type. This is used by mod_cgi.c to determine whether the CGI script is invoked via a ScriptAlias, in which case Options ExecCGI is not needed.[78] For completeness, here is the code from mod_cgi.c that makes the test:

[78]This is a backward-compatibility feature.

int is_scriptaliased (request_rec *r)
{
    char *t = table_get (r->notes, "alias-forced-type");
    return t && (!strcmp (t, "cgi-script"));
}

An Interjection

At this point, the filename is known as well as the URL, and Apache reconfigures itself to hand subsequent module functions the relevant per-directory configuration (actually composed of all matching directory, location, and file configurations, merged with each other via the per-directory merger, in that order).[79]

[79]In fact, some of this is done before the Translate Name phase, and some after, since the location information can be used before name translation is done, but filename information obviously cannot be. If you really want to know exactly what is going on, probe the behavior with mod_reveal.c.

Map to Storage (2.0)

int module_map_to_storage(request_rec *r)

This function allows modules to set the request_rec's per_dir_config according to their own view of the world, if desired. It is also used to respond to contextless requests (such as TRACE). It should return DONE or an HTTP return code if a contextless request was fulfilled, OK if the module mapped it, or DECLINED if not. The core will handle this by doing a standard directory walk on the filename if no other module does. See Example 21-15.

Example

Example 21-15. http_protocol.c

AP_DECLARE_NONSTD(int) ap_send_http_trace(request_rec *r)
{
    int rv;
    apr_bucket_brigade *b;
    header_struct h;

    if (r->method_number != M_TRACE) {
        return DECLINED;
    }

    /* Get the original request */
    while (r->prev) {
        r = r->prev;
    }

    if ((rv = ap_setup_client_block(r, REQUEST_NO_BODY))) {
        return rv;
    }

    ap_set_content_type(r, "message/http");

    /* Now we recreate the request, and echo it back */

    b = apr_brigade_create(r->pool, r->connection->bucket_alloc);
    apr_brigade_putstrs(b, NULL, NULL, r->the_request, CRLF, NULL);
    h.pool = r->pool;
    h.bb = b;
    apr_table_do((int (*) (void *, const char *, const char *))
                 form_header_field, (void *) &h, r->headers_in, NULL);
    apr_brigade_puts(b, NULL, NULL, CRLF);
    ap_pass_brigade(r->output_filters, b);

    return DONE;
}

This is the code that handles the TRACE method. Also, the following is from mod_proxy.c:

static int proxy_map_location(request_rec *r)
{
    int access_status;

    if (!r->proxyreq || strncmp(r->filename, "proxy:", 6) != 0)
        return DECLINED;

    /* Don't let the core or mod_http map_to_storage hooks handle this,
     * We don't need directory/file_walk, and we want to TRACE on our own.
     */
    if ((access_status = proxy_walk(r))) {
        ap_die(access_status, r);
        return access_status;
    }

    return OK;
}
Header Parser

int module_header_parser(request_rec *pReq)

This routine is similar in intent to the post_read_request phase. It can return OK, DECLINED, or a status code. If something other than DECLINED is returned, no further modules are called. The intention was to make decisions based on the headers sent by the client. However, its use has (in most cases) been superseded by post_read_request. Since it occurs after the per-directory configuration merge has been done, it is useful in some cases.

The only standard module that uses it is mod_setenvif.c, as shown in Example 21-16.

Example

Example 21-16. mod_setenvif.c

static int match_headers(request_rec *r)
{
    sei_cfg_rec *sconf;
    sei_entry *entries;
    table_entry *elts;
    const char *val;
    int i, j;
    int perdir;
    char *last_name;

    perdir = (ap_table_get(r->notes, SEI_MAGIC_HEIRLOOM) != NULL);
    if (! perdir) {
        ap_table_set(r->notes, SEI_MAGIC_HEIRLOOM, "post-read done");
        sconf  = (sei_cfg_rec *) ap_get_module_config(r->server->module_config,
                                                      &setenvif_module);
    }
    else {
        sconf = (sei_cfg_rec *) ap_get_module_config(r->per_dir_config,
                                                     &setenvif_module);
    }
    entries = (sei_entry *) sconf->conditionals->elts;
    last_name = NULL;
    val = NULL;
    for (i = 0; i < sconf->conditionals->nelts; ++i) {
        sei_entry *b = &entries[i];

        /* Optimize the case where a bunch of directives in a row use the
         * same header.  Remember we don't need to strcmp the two header
         * names because we made sure the pointers were equal during
         * configuration.
         */
        if (b->name != last_name) {
            last_name = b->name;
            switch (b->special_type) {
            case SPECIAL_REMOTE_ADDR:
                val = r->connection->remote_ip;
                break;
            case SPECIAL_REMOTE_HOST:
                val =  ap_get_remote_host(r->connection, r->per_dir_config,
                                          REMOTE_NAME);
                break;
            case SPECIAL_REMOTE_USER:
                val = r->connection->user;
                break;
            case SPECIAL_REQUEST_URI:
                val = r->uri;
                break;
            case SPECIAL_REQUEST_METHOD:
                val = r->method;
                break;
            case SPECIAL_REQUEST_PROTOCOL:
                val = r->protocol;
                break;
            case SPECIAL_NOT:
                val = ap_table_get(r->headers_in, b->name);
                if (val == NULL) {
                    val = ap_table_get(r->subprocess_env, b->name);
                }
                break;
            }
        }

        /*
         * A NULL value indicates that the header field or special entity
         * wasn't present or is undefined.  Represent that as an empty string
         * so that REs like "^$" will work and allow envariable setting
         * based on missing or empty field.
         */
        if (val == NULL) {
            val = "";
        }

        if (!ap_regexec(b->preg, val, 0, NULL, 0)) {
            array_header *arr = ap_table_elts(b->features);
            elts = (table_entry *) arr->elts;

            for (j = 0; j < arr->nelts; ++j) {
                if (!strcmp(elts[j].val, "!")) {
                    ap_table_unset(r->subprocess_env, elts[j].key);
                }
                else {
                    ap_table_setn(r->subprocess_env, elts[j].key, elts[j].val);
                }
            }
        }
    }

    return DECLINED;
}

Interestingly, this module hooks both post_read_request and header_parser to the same function, so it can set variables before and after the directory merge. (This is because other modules often use the environment variables to control their function.)

The function doesn't do anything particularly fascinating, except a rather dubious use of the notes table in the request record. It uses a note SEI_MAGIC_HEIRLOOM to tell it whether it's in the post_read_request or the header_parser (by virtue of post_read_request coming first); in our view it should simply have hooked two different functions and passed a flag instead. The rest of the function simply checks various fields in the request to, and conditionally sets environment variables for, subprocesses.

This function is virtually identical in both 1.3 and 2.0

Check Access

int module_check_access(request_rec *pReq)

This routine checks access, in the allow/deny sense. It can return OK , DECLINED, or a status code. All modules are called until one of them returns something other than DECLINED or OK. If all modules return DECLINED, it is considered a configuration error. At this point, the URL and the filename (if relevant) are known, as are the client's address, user agent, and so forth. All of these are available through pReq. As long as everything says DECLINED or OK, the request can proceed.

The only example available in the standard modules is, unsurprisingly, from mod_access.c. See Example 21-17 for an excerpt from mod_access.c.

Example

Example 21-17. mod_access.c

static int find_allowdeny(request_rec *r, array_header *a, int method)
{
    allowdeny *ap = (allowdeny *) a->elts;
    int mmask = (1 << method);
    int i;
    int gothost = 0;
    const char *remotehost = NULL;

    for (i = 0; i < a->nelts; ++i) {
        if (!(mmask & ap[i].limited))
            continue;

        switch (ap[i].type) {
        case T_ENV:
            if (ap_table_get(r->subprocess_env, ap[i].x.from)) {
                return 1;
            }
            break;

        case T_ALL:
            return 1;

        case T_IP:
            if (ap[i].x.ip.net != INADDR_NONE
                && (r->connection->remote_addr.sin_addr.s_addr
                    & ap[i].x.ip.mask) == ap[i].x.ip.net) {
                return 1;
            }
            break;

        case T_HOST:
            if (!gothost) {
                remotehost = ap_get_remote_host(r->connection, r->per_dir_config,
                                                REMOTE_DOUBLE_REV);

                if ((remotehost == NULL) || is_ip(remotehost))
                    gothost = 1;
                else
                    gothost = 2;
            }

            if ((gothost == 2) && in_domain(ap[i].x.from, remotehost))
                return 1;
            break;

        case T_FAIL:
            /* do nothing? */
            break;
        }
    }

    return 0;
}

static int check_dir_access(request_rec *r)
{
    int method = r->method_number;
    access_dir_conf *a =
    (access_dir_conf *)
    ap_get_module_config(r->per_dir_config, &access_module);
    int ret = OK;

    if (a->order[method] == ALLOW_THEN_DENY) {
        ret = FORBIDDEN;
        if (find_allowdeny(r, a->allows, method))
            ret = OK;
        if (find_allowdeny(r, a->denys, method))
            ret = FORBIDDEN;
    }
    else if (a->order[method] == DENY_THEN_ALLOW) {
        if (find_allowdeny(r, a->denys, method))
            ret = FORBIDDEN;
        if (find_allowdeny(r, a->allows, method))
            ret = OK;
    }
    else {
        if (find_allowdeny(r, a->allows, method)
            && !find_allowdeny(r, a->denys, method))
            ret = OK;
        else
            ret = FORBIDDEN;
    }

    if (ret == FORBIDDEN
        && (ap_satisfies(r) != SATISFY_ANY || !ap_some_auth_required(r))) {
        ap_log_rerror(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_NOERRNO|APLOG_ERR, r,
                      "client denied by server configuration: %s",
                      r->filename);
    }

    return ret;
}

Pretty straightforward stuff. in_ip( ) and in_domain( ) check whether an IP address or domain name, respectively, match the IP or domain of the client.

The only difference in 2.0 is that the return value FORBIDDEN has become HTTP_FORBIDDEN.

Check User ID

int module_check_user_id(request_rec *pReq)

This function is responsible for acquiring and checking a user ID. The user ID should be stored in pReq->connection->user. The function should return OK, DECLINED, or a status code. Of particular interest is HTTP_UNAUTHORIZED (formerly known as AUTH_REQUIRED), which should be returned if the authorization fails (either because the user agent presented no credentials or because those presented were not correct). All modules are polled until one returns something other than DECLINED. If all decline, a configuration error is logged, and an error is returned to the user agent. When HTTP_UNAUTHORIZED is returned, an appropriate header should be set to inform the user agent of the type of credentials to present when it retries. Currently, the appropriate header is WWW-Authenticate (see the HTTP 1.1 specification for details). Unfortunately, Apache's modularity is not quite as good as it might be in this area. So this hook usually provides alternate ways of accessing the user/password database, rather than changing the way authorization is actually done, as evidenced by the fact that the protocol side of authorization is currently dealt with in http_protocol.c, rather than in the module. Note that this function checks the validity of the username and password and not whether the particular user has permission to access the URL.

An obvious user of this hook is mod_auth.c, as shown in Example 21-18.

Example

Example 21-18. mod_auth.c

static int authenticate_basic_user(request_rec *r)
{
    auth_config_rec *sec =
    (auth_config_rec *) ap_get_module_config(r->per_dir_config, &auth_module);
    conn_rec *c = r->connection;
    const char *sent_pw;
    char *real_pw;
    char *invalid_pw;
    int res;

    if ((res = ap_get_basic_auth_pw(r, &sent_pw)))
        return res;

    if (!sec->auth_pwfile)
        return DECLINED;

    if (!(real_pw = get_pw(r, c->user, sec->auth_pwfile))) {
        if (!(sec->auth_authoritative))
            return DECLINED;
        ap_log_rerror(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_NOERRNO|APLOG_ERR, r,
                      "user %s not found: %s", c->user, r->uri);
        ap_note_basic_auth_failure(r);
        return AUTH_REQUIRED;
    }
    invalid_pw = ap_validate_password(sent_pw, real_pw);
    if (invalid_pw != NULL) {
        ap_log_rerror(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_NOERRNO|APLOG_ERR, r,
                      "user %s: authentication failure for \"%s\": %s",
                      c->user, r->uri, invalid_pw);
        ap_note_basic_auth_failure(r);
        return AUTH_REQUIRED;
    }
    return OK;
}

This function is essentially the same for 2.0, except that AUTH_REQUIRED has become HTTP_UNAUTHORIZED.

Check Auth

int 
module_check_auth(request_rec *pReq)

This hook is called to check whether the authenticated user (found in pReq->connection->user) is permitted to access the current URL. It normally uses the per-directory configuration (remembering that this is actually the combined directory, location, and file configuration) to determine this. It must return OK, DECLINED, or a status code. Again, the usual status to return is HTTP_UNAUTHORIZED if access is denied, thus giving the user a chance to present new credentials. Modules are polled until one returns something other than DECLINED.

Again, the natural example to use is from mod_auth.c, as shown in Example 21-19.

Example

Again, this function is essentially the same in 2.0.

Type Checker

int module_type_checker(request_rec *pReq)

At this stage, we have almost finished processing the request. All that is left to decide is who actually handles it. This is done in two stages: first, by converting the URL or filename into a MIME type or handler string, language, and encoding; and second, by calling the appropriate function for the type. This hook deals with the first part. If it generates a MIME type, it should be stored in pReq->content_type. Alternatively, if it generates a handler string, it should be stored in pReq->handler. The languages go in pReq->content_languages, and the encoding in pReq->content_encoding. Note that there is no defined way of generating a unique handler string. Furthermore, handler strings and MIME types are matched to the request handler through the same table, so the handler string should probably not be a MIME type.[80]

[80]Old hands may recall that earlier versions of Apache used "magic"; MIME types to cause certain request handlers to be invoked, such as the CGI handler. Handler strings were invented to remove this kludge.

One obvious place that this must go on is in mod_mime.c. See Example 21-20.

Example

Example 21-20. mod_mime.c

int find_ct(request_rec *r)
{
    char *fn = strrchr(r->filename, '/'.;
    mime_dir_config *conf =
      (mime_dir_config *)ap_get_module_config(r->per_dir_config, &mime_module);
    char *ext, *type, *orighandler = r->handler;

    if (S_ISDIR(r->finfo.st_mode)) {
        r->content_type = DIR_MAGIC_TYPE;
        return OK;
    }

    if(fn == NULL) fn = r->filename;

    /* Parse filename extensions, which can be in any order */
    while ((ext = getword(r->pool, &fn, '.')) && *ext) {
      int found = 0;

      /* Check for Content-Type */
      if ((type = table_get (conf->forced_types, ext))
          || (type = table_get (hash_buckets[hash(*ext)], ext))) {
          r->content_type = type;
          found = 1;
      }

      /* Check for Content-Language */
      if ((type = table_get (conf->language_types, ext))) {
          r->content_language = type;
          found = 1;
      }

      /* Check for Content-Encoding */
      if ((type = table_get (conf->encoding_types, ext))) {
          if (!r->content_encoding)
              r->content_encoding = type;
          else
              r->content_encoding = pstrcat(r->pool, r->content_encoding,
                                            ", ", type, NULL);
          found = 1;
      }

      /* Check for a special handler, but not for proxy request */
      if ((type = table_get (conf->handlers, ext)) && !r->proxyreq) {
          r->handler = type;
          found = 1;
      }

      /* This is to deal with cases such as foo.gif.bak, which we want
       * to not have a type. So if we find an unknown extension, we
       * zap the type/language/encoding and reset the handler.
       */

      if (!found) {
        r->content_type = NULL;
        r->content_language = NULL;
        r->content_encoding = NULL;
        r->handler = orighandler;
      }
    }

    /* Check for overrides with ForceType/SetHandler */

    if (conf->type && strcmp(conf->type, "none"))
        r->content_type = pstrdup(r->pool, conf->type);
    if (conf->handler && strcmp(conf->handler, "none"))
        r->handler = pstrdup(r->pool, conf->handler);

    if (!r->content_type) return DECLINED;

    return OK;
}

Another example can be found in mod_negotiation.c, but it is rather more complicated than is needed to illustrate the point.

Although the 2.0 version of the example is rather different, the differences aren't really because of changes in the hook and are more concerned with the complication of determining MIME types with filters in place, so we won't bother to show the 2.0 version here.

Prerun Fixups

int module_fixups(request_rec *pReq)

Nearly there! This is your last chance to do anything that might be needed before the request is finally handled. At this point, all processing that is going to be done before the request is handled has been completed, the request is going to be satisfied, and all that is left to do is anything the request handler won't do. Examples of what you might do here include setting environment variables for CGI scripts, adding headers to pReq->header_out, or even setting something to modify the behavior of another module's handler in pReq->notes. Things you probably shouldn't do at this stage are many, but, most importantly, you should leave anything security-related alone, including (but certainly not limited to) the URL, the filename, and the username. Most modules won't use this hook because they do their real work elsewhere.

As an example, we will set the environment variables for a shell script. Example 21-21 shows where it's done in mod_env.c.

Example

Example 21-21. mod_env.c

static int fixup_env_module(request_rec *r)
{
    table *e = r->subprocess_env;
    env_dir_config_rec *sconf = ap_get_module_config(r->per_dir_config,
                                                     &env_module);
    table *vars = sconf->vars;

    if (!sconf->vars_present)
        return DECLINED;

    r->subprocess_env = ap_overlay_tables(r->pool, e, vars);

    return OK;
}

Notice that this doesn't directly set the environment variables; that would be pointless because a subprocess's environment variables are created anew from pReq->subprocess_env. Also notice that, as is often the case in computing, considerably more effort is spent in processing the configuration for mod_env.c than is spent at the business end.

Handlers

handler_rec aModuleHandlers[]; [1.3]

The definition of a handler_rec can be found in http_config.h (1.3):

typedef struct {
    char *content_type;
    int (*handler)(request_rec *);
} handler_rec;

In 2.0, the handlers are simply registered with a hook in the usual way and are responsible for checking the content type (or anything else they want to check) in the hook.

Finally, we are ready to handle the request. The core now searches through the modules' handler entries, looking for an exact match for either the handler type or the MIME type, in that order (that is, if a handler type is set, that is used; otherwise, the MIME type is used). When a match is found, the corresponding handler function is called. This will do the actual business of serving the user's request. Often you won't want to do this, because you'll have done the work of your module earlier, but this is the place to run your Java, translate to Swedish, or whatever you might want to do to serve actual content to the user. Most handlers either send some kind of content directly (in which case, they must remember to call ap_send_http_header( ) before sending the content) or use one of the internal redirect methods (e.g., internal_redirect( )).

mod_status.c only implements a handler; Example 21-22 (1.3) shows the handler's table.

Example

Example 21-22. mod_status.c

handler_rec status_handlers[] =
{
{ STATUS_MAGIC_TYPE, status_handler },
{ "server-status", status_handler },
{ NULL }
};

We don't show the actual handler here, because it's big and boring. All it does is trawl through the scoreboard (which records details of the various child processes) and generate a great deal of HTML. The user invokes this handler with either a SetHandler or an AddHandler; however, since the handler makes no use of a file, SetHandler is the more natural way to do it. Notice the reference to STATUS_MAGIC_TYPE. This is a "magic"; MIME type — the use of which is now deprecated — but we must retain it for backward compatibility in this particular module.

The same example in 2.0 has a hook instead of an array of handler_rec s:

static void register_hooks(apr_pool_t *p)
{
    ap_hook_handler(status_handler, NULL, NULL, APR_HOOK_MIDDLE);
    ...
}

and, as discussed, status_handler( ) checks the content type itself:

static int status_handler(request_rec *r)
{
...
    if (strcmp(r->handler, STATUS_MAGIC_TYPE) && 
        strcmp(r->handler, "server-status")) {
        return DECLINED;
    }
...
Logger

int module_logger(request_rec *pRec)

Now that the request has been processed and the dust has settled, you may want to log the request in some way. Here's your chance to do that. Although the core stops running the logger function as soon as a module returns something other than OK or DECLINED, that is rarely done, as there is no way to know whether another module needs to log something.

Although mod_log_agent.c is more or less out of date since mod_log_config.c was introduced, it makes a nice, compact example. See Example 21-23.

Example

Example 21-23. mod_log_agent.c

int agent_log_transaction(request_rec *orig)
{
    agent_log_state *cls = ap_get_module_config (orig->server->module_config,
                                              &agent_log_module);
    char str[HUGE_STRING_LEN];
    char *agent;
    request_rec *r;

    if(cls->agent_fd <0)
      return OK;

    for (r = orig; r->next; r = r->next)
        continue;
    if (*cls->fname == '\0'.    /* Don't log agent */
        return DECLINED;

    agent = table_get(orig->headers_in, "User-Agent");
    if(agent != NULL) 
      {
        sprintf(str, "%s\n", agent);
        write(cls->agent_fd, str, strlen(str));
      }

    return OK;
}

This is not a good example of programming practice. With its fixed-size buffer str, it leaves a gaping security hole. It wouldn't be enough simply to split the write into two parts to avoid this problem. Because the log file is shared among all server processes, the write must be atomic, or the log file could get mangled by overlapping write s. mod_log_config.c carefully avoids this problem.

Unfortunately, mod_log_agent.c has been axed in 2.0; but if it were still there, it would look pretty much the same.

Child Exit

void 
child_exit(server_rec *pServer,pool *pPool) [1.3]

This function is called immediately before a particular child exits. See Child Initialization; earlier in this chapter, for an explanation of what "child"; means in this context. Typically, this function will be used to release resources that are persistent between connections, such as database or file handles.

In 2.0 there is no child_exit hook — instead one registers a cleanup function with the pool passed in the init_child hook.

See Example 21-24 for an excerpt from mod_log_config.c.

Example

Example 21-24. mod_log_config.c

static void flush_all_logs(server_rec *s, pool *p)
{
    multi_log_state *mls;
    array_header *log_list;
    config_log_state *clsarray;
    int i;

    for (; s; s = s->next) {
        mls = ap_get_module_config(s->module_config, &config_log_module);
        log_list = NULL;
        if (mls->config_logs->nelts) {
            log_list = mls->config_logs;
        }
        else if (mls->server_config_logs) {
            log_list = mls->server_config_logs;
        }
        if (log_list) {
            clsarray = (config_log_state *) log_list->elts;
            for (i = 0; i < log_list->nelts; ++i) {
                flush_log(&clsarray[i]);
            }
        }
    }
}

This routine is only used when BUFFERED_LOGS is defined. Predictably enough, it flushes all the buffered logs, which would otherwise be lost when the child exited.

In 2.0, the same function is used, but it is registered via the init_child hook:

static void init_child(apr_pool_t *p, server_rec *s)
{
#ifdef BUFFERED_LOGS
    /* Now register the last buffer flush with the cleanup engine */
    apr_pool_cleanup_register(p, s, flush_all_logs, flush_all_logs);
#endif
}


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