User Guide

CGI environment variables 31
CGI client variables
The following table describes common CGI environment variables the browser creates and passes
in the request header:
CGI client certificate variables
ColdFusion makes available the following client certificate data. These variables are available
when running Microsoft IIS 4.0 or Netscape Enterprise under SSL if your web server is
configured to accept client certificates.
REMOTE_IDENT If the HTTP server supports RFC 931 identification, this variable is set to
the remote username 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 Length of the content as given by the client.
CGI client variable Description
HTTP_REFERER The referring document that linked to or submitted form data.
HTTP_USER_AGENT The browser that 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. The browser determines
whether to set this variable, usually in response to the server having
sent the LAST_MODIFIED HTTP header.
It can be used to take
advantage of browser-side caching.
CGI client certificate variable Description
CERT_SUBJECT Client-specific information provided by the web server. This data
typically includes the client's name, e-mail address, etc. For
example:
O = "VeriSign, Inc.", OU = VeriSign Trust Network, OU =
"www.verisign.com/repository/RPA Incorp. by
Ref.,LIAB.LTD(c)98", OU = Persona Not Validated, OU =
Digital ID Class 1 - Microsoft, CN = Matthew Lund, E =
[e-mail]
CERT_ISSUER Information about the authority that provided the client certificate.
For example:
O = "VeriSign, Inc.", OU = VeriSign Trust Network, OU =
"www.verisign.com/repository/RPA Incorp. By
Ref.,LIAB.LTD(c)98", CN = VeriSign Class 1 CA Individual
Subscriber-Persona Not Validated
CLIENT_CERT_ENCODED The entire client certificate binary, base-64 encoded. This data is
typically of interest to developers, so they can integrate with other
software that uses client certificates.
CGI server variable Description