| | | Server-side includes |
In principle, it is possible for a World-Wide Web page to display different data every time it is loaded. Usually, when a browser fetches a World-Wide Web document, the host computer ships out the document without reading it. However, the writer of the document can instruct the server to interpret the page (that is, to execute commands contained in the document) before sending it to the browser for display.
Of course, there are potential security concerns with a World-Wide Web page that can execute commands on the host computer, so your system administrator has to make some decisions about how to configure the server on your computer system. A typical installation allows users to access only a limited set of commands.
You can look at an example of a World-Wide Web page that illustrates the use of so-called server-side includes. This example also explains how to build such a page if your Unix system is configured similarly to the computer system in the Department of Mathematics at Texas A&M University.
The Math 696 course
pages were last modified April 5, 2005. | | | Server-side includes |