Re: content negotiation for language in web pages
Aaargh. This content negotiation (CN) has some annoying quirks.
After re-reading the apache manual it appears we don't have a lot
of choice.
from the apache manual:
> The effect of MultiViews is as follows: if the server receives a request for /some/dir/foo,
> if /some/dir has MultiViews enabled, and /some/dir/foo does not exist, then the server
> reads the directory looking for files named foo.*, and effectively fakes up a type map
> which names all those files, assigning them the same media types and content-encodings
> it would have if the client had asked for one of them by name. It then chooses the best
> match to the client's requirements, and forwards them along.
This makes it quite difficult to have pages that work with both servers that do and
do not support CN. Pages can do the following:
1. pages reference foo. Works great on a CN server. Doesn't work at all on a non-CN
server.
2. pages reference foo.html . In all cases foo.html will be served if it exists.
If it doesn't exist, a CN server will look for files with the language extensions
and a non-CN server will fail.
3. pages reference foo.html.<lang> . Works on all servers but obviates the need for
CN.
It seems everyone agrees that the first method (pages served using CN) is the
best solution. Essentially, this means the decision on the route we take is in the
hands of the mirror administrators. If they all agree to set up CN, then we'll get to
do this properly. If not, we'll be stuck doing the translations the old fashioned way
(method 3 or seperate directories).
I'll contact the administrators and find out if they'll all set it up.
- Jay
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