Virtual folders do not appear

 
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Nelson4422
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Joined: 19 Apr 2009
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 2:54 am    Post subject: Virtual folders do not appear Reply with quote

(First, to this brand new user, Abyss Web Server seems like unusually high quality software.)

Problem: Cannot see virtual folders. Abyss X1 v2.6 properly displays the contents (both subfolders and files) placed in the root folder. This works well in HTTP and in HTTPS mode. But all virtual folders are absent from the generated listings.

Environment: Windows XP SP2, Linksys RVL200 router (yes, port forwarding, etc. seem correct), ZoneAlarm firewall (yes, Windows firewall, etc. disabled), Cable modem (not relevant, since problem exists via localhost and via a networked local computer), ISP port blocking unknown (but nonstandard ports are selected, also the problem exists locally without going through the Internet). Yes, the problem exists with all firewalls disabled.

Some of the virtual paths are for subfolders on the same drive as the server root, but others are for whole drives with real paths like F:\ or G:\, and others are for whole drives on other computers with real paths mapped to a network letter like R:\ or S:\ (mentioned in case that makes Abyss unhappy). None of the virtual folders appear.

I have spent the better part of three days on this, re-reading the manual and many posts on this forum and trying every combination of settings I could think of within Abyss Web Server. These include the obvious -- Directory Scope, Aliases, Users and Groups, Access Control, and more. Examples of virtual folder entries in Aliases:
Virtual Path - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Real Path
/101 - Newest Arrivals - - - - - - - F:\Newest
/500 - Early Period 1960-1970 - - R:\

Most advanced features other than HTTPS are not used (yet). No scripting, asp.net, XSSI. No customization.

I have tried many thing outside of the server, such as loosening permissions for the folders to be virtualized and enabling generally unneeded Windows services in case there are obscure dependencies. FTP servers work fine on this computer.

Obviously I'm doing something wrong. What am I missing?

Thanks in advance for any clues.
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roganty
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Joined: 08 Jun 2004
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 10:21 am    Post subject: Re: Virtual folders do not appear Reply with quote

Nelson4422 wrote:
(First, to this brand new user, Abyss Web Server seems like unusually high quality software.)

Problem: Cannot see virtual folders. Abyss X1 v2.6 properly displays the contents (both subfolders and files) placed in the root folder. This works well in HTTP and in HTTPS mode. But all virtual folders are absent from the generated listings.

Environment: Windows XP SP2, Linksys RVL200 router (yes, port forwarding, etc. seem correct), ZoneAlarm firewall (yes, Windows firewall, etc. disabled), Cable modem (not relevant, since problem exists via localhost and via a networked local computer), ISP port blocking unknown (but nonstandard ports are selected, also the problem exists locally without going through the Internet). Yes, the problem exists with all firewalls disabled.

Some of the virtual paths are for subfolders on the same drive as the server root, but others are for whole drives with real paths like F:\ or G:\, and others are for whole drives on other computers with real paths mapped to a network letter like R:\ or S:\ (mentioned in case that makes Abyss unhappy). None of the virtual folders appear.

I have spent the better part of three days on this, re-reading the manual and many posts on this forum and trying every combination of settings I could think of within Abyss Web Server. These include the obvious -- Directory Scope, Aliases, Users and Groups, Access Control, and more. Examples of virtual folder entries in Aliases:
Virtual Path - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Real Path
/101 - Newest Arrivals - - - - - - - F:\Newest
/500 - Early Period 1960-1970 - - R:\

Most advanced features other than HTTPS are not used (yet). No scripting, asp.net, XSSI. No customization.

I have tried many thing outside of the server, such as loosening permissions for the folders to be virtualized and enabling generally unneeded Windows services in case there are obscure dependencies. FTP servers work fine on this computer.

Obviously I'm doing something wrong. What am I missing?

Thanks in advance for any clues.


Have you tried creating the folders in htdocs?

like so:
htdocs/101 - Newest Arrivals/
htdocs/500 - Early Period 1960-1970/

Then when you click on the folder it will take you to the actual folder

From what I believe, virtual folders, unless there is an actual folder in the directory, are not added to directory listings.
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aprelium-support
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Joined: 20 Feb 2009
Posts: 356

PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 11:52 am    Post subject: Re: Virtual folders do not appear Reply with quote

Nelson4422 wrote:
But all virtual folders are absent from the generated listings.


First of all, Thank you for using Abyss Web Server.

Only physical files and directories are listed by design.
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Nelson4422
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Joined: 19 Apr 2009
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 12:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you for the replies.

Quote:
Have you tried creating the folders in htdocs?


Yes. Same result.


Quote:
Only physical files and directories are listed by design.


What??? What is the point of creating virtual folders in Aliases (which of course link to physical folders) if they cannot appear in the listings sent out to users? Again, what am I missing?


In addition to the virtual folders not appearing in the listings, I cannot find any place to enter physical paths not under the root. Example: If the server root is F:\Home, then all folders and files under it are listed properly. But if another physical location is needed, such as G:\ or H:\Arias by Bjorling, it apparently cannot be entered except by creating (in Aliases) a virtual folder that links to it, which then fails to appear in my system. I would have expected a dialog, perhaps under Directory Listing, to enter physical folders not under the root and assign properties and access rules to them. I see no place to do that.

Again, Abyss Web Server seems so well designed that the problem must be my lack of understanding.
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aprelium-support
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 3:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nelson4422,

The standard directory listing doesn't list virtual paths by default but you can use scripts that works also with virtual directories like this one:

http://www.aprelium.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13795
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Nelson4422
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Joined: 19 Apr 2009
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 4:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I installed the script as instructed. No go. Now, when trying to view the site, it just shows an error message: "Error 405, Method Not Allowed." I am not a php user, so perhaps something else is needed.



I still find it hard to understand why virtual folders linked to physical folders, as entered into the Aliases table, are not visible when viewing the site.
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aprelium-support
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 6:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nelson4422 wrote:
I installed the script as instructed. No go. Now, when trying to view the site, it just shows an error message: "Error 405, Method Not Allowed." I am not a php user, so perhaps something else is needed.


Error 405 means that you are submitting a form to a static file and not to a script.

In other words, the PHP file you are submitting to is not recognized as a script by Abyss Web Server. This is usually because you have not configured PHP support in Abyss Web Server.

We recommend reading:
http://www.aprelium.com/abyssws/php.html

Nelson4422 wrote:
I still find it hard to understand why virtual folders linked to physical folders, as entered into the Aliases table, are not visible when viewing the site.


It is not implemented by default because:

1/ It's generally slow.
2/ It becomes very complex (sometimes impossible) to find a general (and unique) rule that can be applied for listing when you have virtual directories with virtual subdirectories.

That's why other scripts are supported.
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Nelson4422
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Joined: 19 Apr 2009
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 9:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I installed php and the script and adjusted the server settings as you indicated. It still doesn't work.

Your help is appreciated, but even with your help, I haven't been able to get this system working.

My application is quite simple, even if the number of files is large. All that's needed is HTTPS, virtual folders, and access control. There is no need for cURL, GD2, PDO, ODBC, SQLite, MySQL, or MySQLi extensions which the preconfigured PHP 5 package for Windows has enabled by default.

The FTP servers I've used for years have built-in handling of virtual folders, and I think the web servers and file servers glanced at recently have built-in virtual folder support as well. There is no noticeable slow-down in these servers even with very extensive virtual file systems (as long as the listings still come from physical paths linked to the virtual folders). The links themselves are tiny and are either read into memory upon startup or they are cached. The complexity of rules should be no greater for virtual than for physical folders, as in other server products. Indeed, the determination of what listings may or may not be sent to the remote user should not be concerned with whether their origin is virtual or physical.

Here, the lack of built-in support for virtual folders is confusing to me, especially because everything else about this software is so well done. Do all users of this software really have all their accessible folders and files located within the server root on a single hard drive?

Am I trying to use this software in ways that go beyond its intended purpose?

Or am I missing some simple but critical point?
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pkSML
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 2:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I once made a script that lists a simple directory listing with virtual folders.
I can try to dig it out of the closet tomorrow for you.

Glancing at your posts, you're trying to use Abyss as a simple file server?
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Nelson4422
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 10:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks, pkSML.

Quote:
Glancing at your posts, you're trying to use Abyss as a simple file server?

Yes.

Quote:
I once made a script that lists a simple directory listing with virtual folders. I can try to dig it out of the closet tomorrow for you.

That's kind of you. However, I have already installed PHP and the script recommended earlier, which didn't help.

I remain impressed with Abyss Web Server's quality and would like nothing better than to be able to use it.

I remain baffled by the lack of a simple virtual location (Aliasing) function, which most (perhaps all) competing software has built-in. For this common need, it should not be necessary for us to separately install and load interpreters and scripts and then fiddle with them to try to get them to work together.

Again, I wish there was a way that this otherwise-excellent software would work for me.
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pkSML
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 2:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://code-bin.homedns.org/269

Save the code as dir.php in your htdocs folder or a subfolder.
Go into the Abyss console and find 'Directory Listing'.
Set the type to 'From Script'.
Set the script to the web path to dir.php.

Enjoy!

Example:


PS I plan on releasing a version that pretties things up and uses javascript to allow table sorting.
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Nelson4422
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 5:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank You!

We have some progress! Using your code and following your instructions, the virtual folders now appear in the displayed listings. To get that far, it was necessary to adjust the code for the abyss.conf path from the usual C:/program files/abyss/ to my D:/abyss/ location. No problem.

I still can't access the contents of any of the virtual folders now visible. Clicking any virtual folder just gets a 404 Error (not found) message.

Tinkering with the Scope, Aliases, and Access Control settings has not fixed this so far. Yes the corresponding physical folders have appropriate permissions and shares.

Later (after I do a what I'm supposed to do instead of playing with this), I'll try further setting experiments and report back.

Thank you for the script and instructions. It's nice to see some progress.
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Nelson4422
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 10:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Further observation:

A virtual folder will be seen only if its physical location is within the server root.

Of course such folders are already seen. They would not need an alias unless you want to adjust the displayed name of the already visible folder.

All other cases fail. A virtual folder will not be seen if the physical folder is outside of the server root. A Virtual folder will not be seen if its physical folder is another whole drive, a folder on another drive, or even a folder on the same drive as the server root but not within the server root.

There does not seem to be a place to add physical paths except under Aliases, and even then the real paths seem to be disregarded. Aliases are specified as Virtual Path = "/1960s Music", and Real Path = "P:\60s". "P:" may be a mapped network drive on another computer, another whole drive on the same computer, a folder on another drive on the same computer, or another folder on the same drive as the server root.). Any path outside the server root doesn't work.
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pkSML
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 12:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

On my test server on the computer I'm on, I have J:, K:, L: all set up as aliases and they're accessible just like they should be. Abyss even handles Z:, which is a mapped network drive on a different computer. Abyss handles them flawlessly.
There must be something goofy with your installation. I recommend you uninstall and reinstall.
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pkSML
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 12:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nelson4422 wrote:
Further observation:

A virtual folder will be seen only if its physical location is within the server root.


Actually, take a look at my screenshot above.
The alias is set up as /php/testalias.
/php is an alias too.

Example:

You map Q: as /docs in Abyss.
You have more docs on W:, so you want W: to be an alias under /docs.
Just make an alias for W: as /docs/wdrive.

With my script, you will see /wdrive in the directory listing for /docs.
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Nelson4422
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It works! Following your example, I moved an alias (a whole drive on another computer, mapped to P:) from the server root to a folder beneath the server root. Then it worked.

It seems that aliases must not be located in the server root. They can be in any folder under the root.

Examples: F:\root\alias does not work. F:\root\anyfolder\alias does work....at least in some cases. Now I'll tinker with it to figure out which combinations work and which don't.

Many thanks!
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