slive 00/10/05 17:56:51
Modified: htdocs/manual/mod core.html Log: Be a little more explicit about the consequences of ErrorDocument xxx http://.... Revision Changes Path 1.173 +11 -5 httpd-docs-2.0/htdocs/manual/mod/core.html Index: core.html =================================================================== RCS file: /home/cvs/httpd-docs-2.0/htdocs/manual/mod/core.html,v retrieving revision 1.172 retrieving revision 1.173 diff -u -r1.172 -r1.173 --- core.html 2000/09/15 19:13:42 1.172 +++ core.html 2000/10/06 00:56:48 1.173 @@ -837,12 +837,18 @@ <P>Note that when you specify an <CODE>ErrorDocument</CODE> that points to a remote URL (ie. anything with a method such as "http" in -front of it) Apache will send a redirect to the client to tell it +front of it), Apache will send a redirect to the client to tell it where to find the document, even if the document ends up being on the -same server. This has several implications, the most important being -that <STRONG>if you use an "ErrorDocument 401" directive then it must -refer to a local document.</STRONG> This results from the nature of -the HTTP basic authentication scheme. +same server. This has several implications, the most important being +that the client will not receive the original error status code, but +instead will receive a redirect status code. This in turn can confuse +web robots and other clients which try to determine if a URL is valid +using the status code. In addition, if you use a remote URL in an +<code>ErrorDocument 401</code>, the client will not know to prompt the +user for a password since it will not receive the 401 status +code. Therefore, <STRONG>if you use an "ErrorDocument 401" directive +then it must refer to a local document.</STRONG> + <P>Prior to version 2.0, messages were indicated by prefixing them with a single unmatched double quote character.
