toucheatout 2006-05-19 16:17 Web
Even if the .htaccess mechanism is to be avoided for performance reasons on heavy-duty sites (the whole ancestors directories will be checked for a .htaccess as it applies to the current directory and any other beneath). It is however an exceptionally flexible mechanism for a directory-base tuning of apache configuration options - options can be specified by designers with simple FTP access for testing purposes.
Main uses of a htaccess file
- access control: password, file and host-based
- redirections and URL rewriting
- passing custom php configuration values
- miscellaneous things as enabling CGI interpreter, MIME type, generic
Options as found in httpd.conf
The apache configuration must indicate consideration made to .htaccess files via the AllowOverride directive (that can be either All, None, AuthConfig, FileInfo, Indexes, Indexes, Options). See the AllowOverride apache documentation for more details.