Default file in subdirectories

[Günther Steinmetz]

i think it is user friendly to have a default file in each subdirectory.
However, i hate to have lots of index.html files. Instead i would like to
have a meaningful and unique file name for all my default files. Is there
any way to specify the default file name for a given subdirectory locally
(i.e. not on the server)?
Thanks for any answers.
Guenther

[Salagir]

On Thu, 6 Nov 2003 10:58:41 +0100, in comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html,
Günther Steinmetz wrote:

Is there
any way to specify the default file name for a given subdirectory locally
(i.e. not on the server)?

Not on the server ? On the client ???

if your webserver is apache, you can create a .htaccess file containing:
Directoryindex mypageiwant.html

--
++++++++ Zelda, Dragon Ball, Mana and my (art)work at www.salagir.com ++++++++

[Andreas Keil]

"Günther Steinmetz" <gs********@web.de> wrote:

i think it is user friendly to have a default file in each subdirectory. However, i hate to have lots of index.html files. Instead i would like to have a meaningful and unique file name for all my default files. Is there any way to specify the default file name for a given subdirectory locally (i.e. not on the server)?

Imagine you want to archive your website. After some years you have a
look at it on your hard drive. You won't find the entry point anymore.
Especially when there are a lot of html files. I hated the CSS
documentation e.g., because it's main file was named "content.html"
instead of "index.html". Therefore, I had to search for it when having
downloaded the docs.
Personally, I prefer creating meaningful folder names now and always
using "index.html" even if there's only one html file.
Just for consideration.

Andreas

--
Andreas
To reply via e-mail, please remove the fruit and the ".invalid" top
level domain from my address.

[Günther Steinmetz]

"Salagir" <Sa*****@jeruCITEDELESPACE.org.invalid> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:3f**********************@news.free.fr...

On Thu, 6 Nov 2003 10:58:41 +0100, in comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html,
Günther Steinmetz wrote:

Is there
any way to specify the default file name for a given subdirectory locally (i.e. not on the server)?

Not on the server ? On the client ???

if your webserver is apache, you can create a .htaccess file containing:
Directoryindex mypageiwant.html

Sorry for my stupid question. I was really not asking for something not
being on the server, but was looking for something i can control. Thanks for
your answer, it solves my problem. Of course now i need a .htaccess file in
each subdirectory, right?

[Dave Patton]

Günther Steinmetz <gs********@web.de> wrote in news:bod63q$1d6k7c$1@ID-
67469.news.uni-berlin.de:

i think it is user friendly to have a default file in each subdirectory.
However, i hate to have lots of index.html files. Instead i would like to
have a meaningful and unique file name for all my default files. Is there
any way to specify the default file name for a given subdirectory locally
(i.e. not on the server)?
Thanks for any answers.
Guenther

If you are using Apache, you can add directives to your
..htaccess file(if they are supported by your server).
The simple thing is to specify Directoryindex, and that
will apply for the current directory and all subdirectories
(unless it is overridden).
It's not clear if you want a different index file name in
each subdirectory - if so, that would take more work.
You could also do something like use a custom error handler
to solve the problem - add ErrorDocument directive(s) to
..htacess that point to a script(e.g. PHP) that serves the
required index file for the directory when index.htm, index.html,
index.php, etc. is requested.

--
Dave Patton
Canadian Coordinator, the Degree Confluence Project
http://www.confluence.org dpatton at confluence dot org
My website: http://members.shaw.ca/davepatton/
Vancouver/Whistler - host of the 2010 Winter Olympics

[Stan Brown]

In article <bo*************@ID-67469.news.uni-berlin.de> in
comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html, Günther Steinmetz
<gs********@web.de> wrote:

i think it is user friendly to have a default file in each subdirectory.
However, i hate to have lots of index.html files. Instead i would like to
have a meaningful and unique file name for all my default files. Is there
any way to specify the default file name for a given subdirectory locally
(i.e. not on the server)?

No. That is a logical impossibility.

What you mean by "default file" is what the server gives the user
when the user specifies a URL ending in a slash. (These are not
necessarily directory identifiers, but often are.) How would a
browser know what to ask for? It can't; it must depend on the
server.

Now, if you want to do it on the _server_ there is most likely a
command. Which command of course depends on which server, and when
you post your query to one of the comp.infosystems.www.servers.*
newsgroups you should specify that.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Cortland County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/
HTML 4.01 spec: http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/
validator: http://validator.w3.org/
CSS 2 spec: http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/
2.1 changes: http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/changes.html
validator: http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/

[Harlan Messinger]

"Günther Steinmetz" <gs********@web.de> wrote in message
news:bo*************@ID-67469.news.uni-berlin.de...

i think it is user friendly to have a default file in each subdirectory.
However, i hate to have lots of index.html files. Instead i would like to
have a meaningful and unique file name for all my default files. Is there
any way to specify the default file name for a given subdirectory locally
(i.e. not on the server)?

You can always use meaningful names for these pages, and then create files
called index.html that point to them. It is indeed easiest for future
maintenance purposes to know that, for any directory, you can find the entry
point in a file named index.html. (Or index.asp or default.jsp or whatever
you like, as long as it's consistent.)

[Salagir]

On Thu, 6 Nov 2003 12:14:18 +0100, in comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html,
Günther Steinmetz wrote:

"Salagir" <Sa*****@jeruCITEDELESPACE.org.invalid> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:3f**********************@news.free.fr...

Directoryindex mypageiwant.html

it solves my problem. Of course now i need a .htaccess file in
each subdirectory, right?

Nope :)

The htaccess applies to the directory it's in and all its subdirectories,
except if they also have a htaccess.

--
++++++++ Zelda, Dragon Ball, Mana and my (art)work at www.salagir.com ++++++++
As a math atheist, I think I should be excused from this.
--- Calvin, to Hobbes