Web Site Properties - Home Directory Property Sheet

Use the Home Directory property sheet to change the home directory for your Web site or to modify the properties of your home directory. The home directory is the central location for the files published in your Web site. A default home directory, called Wwwroot, was created when you installed the WWW service. You can change the location of the home directory to one of the following:

In the text box, type the path to the directory or the destination URL. The syntax must match the selected path type:


For a local directory, use the full path; for example, C:\Catalog\Shoes. You can also click the Browse button to select a local directory rather than typing the path.

For a network share, use a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) server and share name; for example, \\webserver\htmlfiles.

For a redirected URL, use a valid URL for the destination. To map requests to another Web site, use a fully qualified URL; for example, http://tempserver. To map requests to a virtual directory, use a virtual path; for example, /newcatalog. You can use redirect variables and wild cards in the destination URL to control which portions of the original URL are mapped into the destination URL.

Access Permissions

The Access Permissions properties appear when you are working with a local directory or a network share. Use these check boxes to determine the type of access allowed to a directory. If the directory is on a Windows NT File System (NTFS) drive, the NTFS settings for the directory must match these settings. If the settings do not match, the most restrictive settings take effect. For example, if you give a directory Write permission in this property sheet but give a particular user group only Read access permissions in NTFS, those users cannot write files to the directory because the Read permission is more restrictive.


Read  Enables Web clients to read or download files stored in a home directory or a virtual directory. If a client sends a request for a file that is in a directory without Read permission, the Web server returns an error. Generally, you should give Read permission only to directories containing information to publish (HTML files, for example). You should disable Read permission for directories containing Common Gateway Interface (CGI) applications and Internet Server Application Program Interface (ISAPI) DLLs to prevent clients from downloading the application files.

Write  Enables Web clients to upload files to the enabled directory on your server, or to change content in a Write-enabled file. Write can only be done with a browser that supports the Put feature of the HTTP 1.1 protocol standard.

Content Control

The Content Control properties appear when you are working with a local directory or a network share.


Log Access Select this check box to record visits to this directory in a log file. Visits are recorded only if logging is enabled for this Web site. Logging is enabled by default. To turn off logging, select the Web site, click the Properties button on the Toolbar, select the Web Site property sheet, and then clear the Enable Logging check box.

Directory Browsing Allowed Select this check box to show the user a hypertext listing of the files and subdirectories in this virtual directory so that the user can navigate through the directory structure. A hypertext directory listing is generated automatically and sent to the user when a browser request does not include a specific file name and when no default document is in the specified directory. Because directory browsing reveals your Web site's structure to a user, you should generally leave this option disabled.

Note that virtual directories will not appear in directory listings; users must know a virtual directory's alias and type in its URL address, or click a link in another page, to access virtual directories.

Index This Directory Select this check box to instruct Microsoft Index Server to include this directory in a full-text index of your Web site. A full-text index enables users to quickly search for words or phrases in documents on your Web site. This feature is only available on Windows NT Server.

FrontPage Web Select this check box to create a FrontPage web for this Web site. Clear this check box to delete the FrontPage web from this Web site.

Application Settings

An application is defined as all the directories and files contained within a directory marked as an application starting point until another application starting point is reached. If you make your site's home directory an application starting point, then every virtual directory and physical directory within your site can participate in the application. To make this directory an application starting point (and thus create an application), click the Create button. To dissociate this home directory from an application, click the Remove button.

Type the name of the application in the Name text box; the name will appear in the property sheets for any directory contained within the application boundary. To set properties for the application, click the Configuration button.

Run in Separate Memory Space (Isolated Process)

Select this check box to run the application in a separate process from the Web server process. Running an isolated application protects other applications, including the Web server itself, from being affected if this application fails.

Permissions

The application permissions properties control whether applications can be run in this directory.


None Do not allow any programs or scripts to run in this directory.

Script Enables applications mapped to a script engine to run in this directory without having Execute permission set. Use Script permission for directories that contain ASP scripts, Internet Database Connector (IDC) scripts, or other scripts. Script permission is safer than Execute permission because you can limit the applications that can be run in the directory. For information on making an application a script engine, see the App Mappings property sheet.

Execute  Allows any application to run in this directory, including applications mapped to script engines and Windows NT binaries (.dll and .exe files).

The Client Will Be Sent To

These properties appear when you select A Redirection to a URL.


The Exact URL Entered Above redirects a virtual directory to the destination URL without adding any other portions of the original URL. You can use this option to redirect an entire virtual directory to one file. For example, to redirect all requests for the /scripts virtual directory to the file Default.htm in the home directory, type /Default.htm in the Redirect To text box and select this option.

A Directory Below This One redirects a parent directory to a child directory. For example, to redirect your home directory (designated by /) to a subdirectory named /newhome, type /newhome in the Redirect To text box and select this option. Without this option, the Web server will continually map the parent to itself.

A Permanent Redirection for This Resource sends the following message to the client: "301 Permanent Redirect." Redirects are considered temporary, and the client browser receives the following message: "302 Temporary Redirect." Some browsers can use the "301 Permanent Redirect" message as the signal to permanently change a URL, such as a bookmark.

Redirect Variables

Use redirect variables to pass portions of the original URL with the destination URL. Insert the variable into the Redirect To text box along with the destination URL.


$S Passes the matched suffix of the requested URL. The matched suffix is the portion of the original URL that remains after the redirected URL is substituted. For example, if /scripts is redirected to /newscripts and the original request is for /scripts/program.exe, then /program.exe is the suffix. The server automatically performs this suffix substitution; you use the $S variable only in combination with other variables.

$P Passes the parameters in the original URL. For example, if the original URL is /scripts/myscript.asp?number=1, then the string "number=1" is mapped into the destination URL.

$Q Passes both the question mark and the parameters from the original URL. For example, if the original URL is /scripts/myscript.asp?number=1, then the string "?number=1" is mapped into the destination URL.

$V Passes the requested URL, without the server name. For example, if the original URL is //myserver/scripts/myscript.asp, then the string "/scripts/myscript.asp" is mapped into the destination URL.

$0 through $9 Passes the portion of the requested URL that matches the indicated wildcard.

! Do not redirect. Use this variable to prevent redirecting a subdirectory or an individual file in a virtual directory that has been redirected.

Redirect Wildcards

Use redirect wildcards to match any number of characters in the original URL. Insert the wildcard character (*) directly into the Redirect To text box. Begin the destination URL with an asterisk and a semicolon. Separate pairs of wildcards and destination URLs with a semicolon. For example, to redirect all requests for /scripts/filename.stm to a single file called Default.stm, and to redirect all requests for /scripts/filename.htm to a single file called Default.htm, type the following in the Redirect To text box for the /scripts virtual directory:

*;*.stm;/default.stm;*.htm;/default.htm

When you use wildcards, be sure to select The Exact URL Entered Above. For a redirected path, use a URL.

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