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b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync <TITLE>Apache module mod_expires</TITLE>
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b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync <H1 ALIGN="CENTER">Module mod_expires</H1>
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync <P>
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync This module is contained in the <CODE>mod_expires.c</CODE> file, and
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync is <STRONG>not</STRONG> compiled in by default. It provides for the
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync generation of <CODE>Expires</CODE> headers according to user-specified
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync criteria.
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync </P>
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync <H2>Summary</H2>
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync <P>
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync This module controls the setting of the <CODE>Expires</CODE> HTTP
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync header in server responses. The expiration date can set to be
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync relative to either the time the source file was last modified, or to
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync the time of the client access.
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync </P>
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync <P>
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync The <CODE>Expires</CODE> HTTP header is an instruction to the client
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync about the document's validity and persistence. If cached, the document
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync may be fetched from the cache rather than from the source until this
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync time has passed. After that, the cache copy is considered
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync &quot;expired&quot; and invalid, and a new copy must be obtained from
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync the source.
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync </P>
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync <H2>Directives</H2>
b9a21c3c91c47e090316e28d759194e46628ed49vboxsync <P>
<MENU>
<LI><A
HREF="#expiresactive"
>ExpiresActive</A>
</LI>
<LI><A
HREF="#expiresbytype"
>ExpiresByType</A>
</LI>
<LI><A
HREF="#expiresdefault"
>ExpiresDefault</A>
</LI>
</MENU>
<HR>
<H2><A NAME="expiresactive">
ExpiresActive directive
</A></H2>
<!--%plaintext &lt;?INDEX {\tt ExpiresActive} directive&gt; -->
<P>
<STRONG>Syntax:</STRONG> ExpiresActive <EM>boolean</EM>
<BR>
<STRONG>Context:</STRONG> server config, virtual host, directory, .htaccess
<br>
<STRONG>Override:</STRONG> Indexes
<br>
<STRONG>Status:</STRONG> Extension
<br>
<STRONG>Module:</STRONG> mod_expires
</P>
<P>
This directive enables or disables the generation of the
<CODE>Expires</CODE> header for the document realm in question. (That
is, if found in an <CODE>.htaccess</CODE> file, for instance, it
applies only to documents generated from that directory.) If set to
<EM><CODE>Off</CODE></EM>, no <CODE>Expires</CODE> header will be
generated for any document in the realm (unless overridden at a lower
level, such as an <CODE>.htaccess</CODE> file overriding a server
config file). If set to <EM><CODE>On</CODE></EM>, the header will be
added to served documents according to the criteria defined by the
<A
HREF="#expiresbytype"
>ExpiresByType</A>
and
<A
HREF="#expiresdefault"
>ExpiresDefault</A>
directives (<EM>q.v.</EM>).
</P>
<P>
Note that this directive does not guarantee that an
<CODE>Expires</CODE> header will be generated. If the criteria aren't
met, no header will be sent, and the effect will be as though this
directive wasn't even specified.
</P>
<HR>
<H2><A NAME="expiresbytype">
ExpiresByType directive
</A></H2>
<!--%plaintext &lt;?INDEX {\tt ExpiresByType} directive&gt; -->
<P>
<STRONG>Syntax:</STRONG> ExpiresByType <EM>mime-type &lt;code&gt;seconds</EM>
<BR>
<STRONG>Context:</STRONG> server config, virtual host, directory, .htaccess
<br>
<STRONG>Override:</STRONG> Indexes
<br>
<STRONG>Status:</STRONG> Extension
<br>
<STRONG>Module:</STRONG> mod_expires
</P>
<P>
This directive defines the value of the <CODE>Expires</CODE> header
generated for documents of the specified type (<EM>e.g.</EM>,
<CODE>text/html</CODE>). The second argument sets the number of
seconds that will be added to a base time to construct the expiration
date.
</P>
<P>
The base time is either the last modification time of the file, or the
time of the client's access to the document. Which should be used is
specified by the <CODE><EM>&lt;code&gt;</EM></CODE> field;
<STRONG>M</STRONG> means that the file's last modification time should
be used as the base time, and <STRONG>A</STRONG> means the client's
access time should be used.
</P>
<P>
The difference in effect is subtle. If <EM>M</EM> is used, all current
copies of the document in all caches will expire at the same time,
which can be good for something like a weekly notice that's always
found at the same URL. If <EM>A</EM> is used, the date of expiration
is different for each client; this can be good for image files that
don't change very often, particularly for a set of related documents
that all refer to the same images (<EM>i.e.</EM>, the images will be
accessed repeatedly within a relatively short timespan).
</P>
<P>
<STRONG>Example:</STRONG>
</P>
<P>
<PRE>
ExpiresActive On # enable expirations
ExpiresByType image/gif A2592000 # expire GIF images after a month
# in the client's cache
ExpiresByType text/html M604800 # HTML documents are good for a
# week from the time they were
# changed, period
</PRE>
</P>
<P>
Note that this directive only has effect if <CODE>ExpiresActive
On</CODE> has been specified. It overrides, for the specified MIME
type <EM>only</EM>, any expiration date set by the
<A
HREF="#expiresdefault"
>ExpiresDefault</A>
directive.
</P>
<HR>
<H2><A NAME="expiresdefault">
ExpiresDefault directive
</A></H2>
<!--%plaintext &lt;?INDEX {\tt ExpiresDefault} directive&gt; -->
<P>
<STRONG>Syntax:</STRONG> ExpiresDefault <EM>&lt;code&gt;seconds</EM>
<BR>
<STRONG>Context:</STRONG> server config, virtual host, directory, .htaccess
<br>
<STRONG>Override:</STRONG> Indexes
<br>
<STRONG>Status:</STRONG> Extension
<br>
<STRONG>Module:</STRONG> mod_expires
</P>
<P>
This directive sets the default algorithm for calculating the
expiration time for all documents in the affected realm. It can be
overridden on a type-by-type basis by the
<A
HREF="#expiresbytype"
>ExpiresByType</A>
directive. See the description of that directive for details about
the syntax of the argument.
</P>
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