can i replace the page not found error message with php codes?

searain

say if i have a folder called

myfolder.

this folder is empty. there are no pages in this folder.

but i want to replace the "page not found" error message just for this folder with some php codes.

so, for

http://www.mysite.com/myfolder/scott.php

http://www.mysite.com/myfolder/jenny.php

http://www.mysite.com/myfolder/bill.php

etc.

instead of the regular "page not found" error, my php codes will replace the "page not found" text, and will grab the name of the page and display

welcome, scott.

welcome, jenny.

welcome, bill.

this is kind of bad practice if it works. it uses the error control approach for other purposes. but how bad it is?

of course, first,

can i replace the default page not found error message for only one folder with php codes?

thanks.

killerbishop

Why don't you just set the Apache ErrorDocument? In the httpd.conf file, change the VirtualHost's errordocument setting like so:

ErrorDocument 404 /path/to/my/custom404.php

And restart Apache. When users get a 404, Apache will bypass the default 404 handler (a regular HTML file) and use your PHP script instead. Note that you cannot receive POST data that was sent (since this is forgotten by Apache because this is a type of URI redirect).

Weedpacket

This is a matter of server configuration, and hence depends on what server you're using.

Apache's behaviour, for instance, can be configured to supply custom error responses on a directory-by-directory basis, by adding a suitable .htaccess file to the directory in question.

killerbishop

Hey Weed,

I just assume your running Apache - while I don't mind helping the community, I also don't care for IIS. If your running IIS for professional purposes - you probably aren't a very good administrator IMHO ;-)

Of course, your right. The custom error handler depends on your server. In IIS, I have no idea how you would deal with this.