Operation Manual

548
USING DREAMWEAVER
Making pages dynamic
Last updated 3/28/2012
The following table lists the most common CGI variables created by the browser and passed to the server:
Cache content sources
You can cache—or store—sources of dynamic content in a Design Note. This lets you work on a site even if you don’t
have access to the database or application server storing the sources of dynamic content. Caching may also speed up
development by eliminating repeated access across a network to the database and application server.
❖ Click the arrow button in the top right corner of the Bindings panel and toggle Cache in the pop-up menu.
If you make changes to one of the content sources, you can refresh the cache by clicking the Refresh button (the circle-
arrow icon) in the upper-right corner of the Bindings panel. (Expand the panel if you don’t see the button.)
Change or delete content sources
You can change or delete any existing source of dynamic content—that is, any content source listed in the Bindings
panel.
Changing or deleting a content source in the Bindings panel does not change or delete any instance of that content on
the page. It merely changes or deletes it as a possible source of content for the page.
PATH_INFO The extra path information, as given by the client. Scripts can be accessed by their virtual pathname,
followed by extra information at the end of this path. The extra information is sent as PATH_INFO.
PATH_TRANSLATED The server provides a translated version of PATH_INFO, which takes the path and does any virtual-to-
physical mapping to it.
SCRIPT_NAME A virtual path to the script being executed; used for self-referencing URLs.
QUERY_STRING The query information that follows the question mark (?) in the URL that referenced this script.
REMOTE_HOST The hostname making the request. If the server does not have this information, it sets REMOTE_ADDR
and does not set REMOTE_HOST.
REMOTE_ADDR The IP address of the remote host making the request.
AUTH_TYPE If the server supports user authentication, and the script is protected, this is the protocol-specific
authentication method used to validate the user.
REMOTE_USER AUTH_USER If the server supports user authentication, and the script is protected, this is the user name they have
authenticated as. (Also available as AUTH_USER.)
REMOTE_IDENT If the HTTP server supports RFC 931 identification, this variable is set to the remote user name
retrieved from the server. Use this variable for logging only.
CONTENT_TYPE For queries that have attached information, such as HTTP POST and PUT, this is the content type of the
data.
CONTENT_LENGTH The length of the content as given by the client.
Variable Description
HTTP_REFERER The referring document. This is the document that linked to or submitted form data.
HTTP_USER_AGENT The browser the client is currently using to send the request. Format: software/version library/version.
HTTP_IF_MODIFIED_SINCE The last time the page was modified. This variable is sent at the discretion of the browser, usually in
response to the server having sent the LAST_MODIFIED HTTP header. It can be used to take advantage
of browser-side caching.
Variable Description