Writing Apache Modules with Perl and C

3.4. Perl API Classes and Data Structures

We'll look now at what a handler subroutine sees when it is called. All interaction between the handler and the Apache server is done through the request record. In the Perl API, the request record is encapsulated within a request object, which for historical reasons is blessed into the Apache:: namespace. The Apache request object contains most of the information about the current transaction. It also contains references to other objects that provide further information about the server and the current transaction. The request object's server( ) method returns an Apache::Server object, which contains server configuration information. The connection() method returns an Apache::Connection object, which contains low-level information about the TCP/IP connection between the browser and the client.

In the C API, information about the request is passed to the handler as a pointer to a request_rec . Included among its various fields are pointers to a server_rec and a conn_rec structure, which correspond to the Perl API's Apache::Server and Apache::Connection objects. We have much more to say about using the request_rec in Chapters Chapter 10 and Chapter 11 when we discuss the C-language API in more detail.

3.4.1. The Apache Request Object

The Apache request object (the request_rec in C) is the primary conduit for the transfer of information between modules and the server. Handlers can use the request object to perform several types ...