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XAO-Web-1.05a
River stage one • 2 direct dependents • 2 total dependents
/ Apache::XAO

NAME

Apache::XAO - Apache XAO handler

SYNOPSIS

In httpd.conf or <VirtualHost ..> section:

PerlFreshRestart   On
PerlSetVar         SiteName        testsite
SetHandler         perl-script
PerlTransHandler   Apache::XAO

DESCRIPTION

Apache::XAO is provides a clean way to integrate XAO::Web based web sites into mod_perl for maximum performance. The same site can still be used in CGI mode (see XAO::Web::Intro for configuration samples).

Apache::XAO must be installed as PerlTransHandler, not as a PerlHandler.

If some areas of the tree need to be excluded from XAO::Web (as it usually happens with images -- /images or something similar) these areas need to be configured in the site's configuration. This is described in details below.

As a convenience, there is also simple way to exclude certain locations using Apache configuration only. Most common is ExtFilesMap:

PerlSetVar         ExtFilesMap     /images

This tells Apache::XAO to map everything under /images location in URI to physical files in 'images' directory off the project home directory. For a site named 'testsite' this is roughly the same as the following, only you do not have to worry about exact path to site's home directory:

Alias              /images         /usr/local/xao/projects/testsite/images

To achieve the same effect from the site configuration you need:

path_mapping_table => {
    '/images' => {
        type        => 'maptodir',
    },
},

More generic way is to just disable Apache::XAO from handling some area altogether:

PerlSetVar         ExtFiles        /images

In this case no mapping is performed and generally Apache::XAO does nothing and lets Apache handle the files.

Site configuration equivalent is:

path_mapping_table => {
    '/images' => {
        type        => 'external',
    },
},

More then one prefix can be listed using ':' as separator:

PerlSetVar         ExtFilesMap     /images:/icons:/ftp

PERFORMANCE

Using Apache::XAO gives of course incomparable with CGI mode performance, but even in comparision with mod_rewrite/mod_perl combination we got 5 to 10 percent boost in performance in tests.

Not to mention clearer looking config files and reduced server memory footprint -- no need to load mod_rewrite.

For additional improvement in memory size it is recommended to add the following line into the main Apache httpd.conf (not into any VirtualHost):

PerlModule XAO::PreLoad

This way most of XAO modules will be pre-compiled and shared between all apache child thus saving memory and child startup time:

EXPORTS

Nothing.

AUTHOR

Copyright (c) 2003 XAO, Inc.

Andrew Maltsev <am@xao.com>.

SEE ALSO

Recommended reading: XAO::Web::Intro, XAO::Web, XAO::DO::Config, Apache.