Re: [cgiapp] Directory structure for website

[Michael Peters <suppressed>]

Sean Davis wrote:
> This is a bit off-topic....
>
> I have a cgi::app running as a mod_perl handler.  I handle authen/authz 
> via the handler, also, and log username with each request.  This all 
> works as expected.  However, I also serve static HTML, CSS, and images 
> as part of the site, some of which are shared between other cgi::apps.  
> I would like to move away from keeping all this extraneous material in 
> htdocs toward having project-specific directories to improve my own 
> sanity, not to mention things like logging and access control.  Any 
> suggestions on how to do this in a mod_perl framework (or 
> best-practices, in general)?  Below is what I have in my httpd.conf file 
> right now.  


Right now, I think one of the best examples of best practices when using 
C::A in a large project that runs under mod_perl is krang 
(http://krang.sourceforge.net).

I am also planning on releasing (sometime in the next few months) the 
source for an application that I've been doing on the side. Krang uses 
H::T, CGI and Class::MethodMaker, where as my app uses TT, 
Apache::Request and Class::DBI. Two sides of the same C::A coin.

I think the general directory layout (relative to the project root) is 
something like...

/lib	    => perl modules
/conf	    => configuration files
/templates  => template files
/logs       => application logs
/bin        => any scripts for starting/stoping/testing/etc
/htdocs	    => images, css, javascript, etc

I use CGI::Application::Dispatch to make urls easier, get rid or 
instance scripts (or make my httpd.conf file cleaner) and have my 
authz/authen be based on the path. Assuming my project is in 
'/sites/myapp' my httpd.conf (or at least my application specific 
portion in a vhost) file might look something like this:

DocumentRoot        /sites/myapp/htdocs

<Directory "/sites/myapp/htdocs">
    Options         Indexes
    AllowOverride   None
    Order           allow,deny
    Allow           from all
</Directory>

ErrorLog            /sites/myapp/logs/error_log
PerlRequire         /sites/myapp/conf/startup.pl
PerlTaintCheck      On
PerlModule          MyApp::Handler

<Location /app>
    SetHandler          perl-script
    PerlHandler         CGI::Application::Dispatch
    PerlSetVar          CGIAPP_DISPATCH_PREFIX MyApp
    PerlSetVar          CGIAPP_DISPATCH_RM On
    PerlSetVar          CGIAPP_DISPATCH_DEFAULT public

    AuthType            MyApp::Handler
    AuthName            myapp
    PerlAccessHandler   MyApp::Handler->access
    PerlAuthenHandler   MyApp::Handler->authen
    PerlAuthzHandler    MyApp::Handler->authz
</Location>


<LocationMatch "/app/admin_.*">
    Require group admin
</LocationMatch>

<LocationMatch "/app/member_.*">
    Require group member
</LocationMatch>

Then I just define what a group of 'member' and 'admin' mean in 
MyApp::Handler.

> Do I need to move authen/authz out of my cgi::app to
> accomplish the task--I think I probably do.

Not necessarily, but I think it'd be a good idea to keep them separate. 
But that's more for organization than for any limitation of mod_perl/C::A.

--
Michael Peters
Developer
Plus Three, LP


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