mod_speling

Spell Checking and Case Sensitivity with Apache 2.2x on the Central Web Servers

What is mod_speling?

• “It does its work by comparing each document name in the requested directory against the requested document name without regard to case, and allowing up to one misspelling (character insertion / omission / transposition or wrong character).”

Quoted: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/mod/mod_speling.html

Say What?!

• Only the LAST segment of a URL will be corrected for case and up to one misspelling

Examples

• Working URL: http://cdorg.fnal.gov/csg/index.html

• Spell-Corrected URL: http://cdorg.fnal.gov/csg/indxe.html

• Case-Corrected URL: http://cdorg.fnal.gov/csg/Index.htmlhttp://cdorg.fnal.gov/CSG/

• Case & Spell Corrected URL:http://cdorg.fnal.gov/csg/Indxe.html

• Uncorrected (broken) URLs: http://cdorg.fnal.gov/CSG/index.html http://cdorg.fnal.gov/CSG/Index.html

Why is it this way?

• mod_speling is Apache’s way to help correct minor spelling and case mistakes in a URL

• Case Sensitivity is based on the OS, not Apache UNIX / Linux is case sensitive Windows is case insensitive

Can I Enable/Disable mod_speling manually?

• Yes! Just add a Directive to a .htaccess file

• To Enable: CheckSpelling On

• To Disable: CheckSpelling Off

• Placement & Scope Same as any .htaccess Directive. It works for

any directory from where the .htaccess file is located.

Pro’s of Using mod_speling

• It will correct one spelling mistake in the last segment of your URL

• It will make the last segment of your URL case insensitive

• This will assist Windows based web authors who are used to case insensitivity

Con’s of using mod_speling

• mod_speling is just a band-aid. It hides what are essentially broken links

• Each corrected page triggers a “301 Redirect” error code

• Potential Security Issues• Potential Content Issues

Best Practices

• When building a website: Make all file and directory names

lowercase Make all URL segments lowercase

• This makes all your links consistent and “404 Proof” within your own website.

The Big Question!

• Knowing all this information:

For all Future Web Servers, would you like this option enabled or disabled by default?

(current web servers will remain unaffected)