Trouble enabling PHP in .html files.

Linda_A

Hello,

I am trying to enable PHP in .html files with the following directive in my .htaccess:

AddType application/x-httpd-php4 .html .php

However, when I change from .php to .html on a test page I have prepared, the php in said page stops working.

I have contacted my host and she has said that AllowOverride All and Options All is set, and so I should be allowed to make this change in my .htaccess. She has also confirmied that the directive she uses in httpd.conf is application/x-httpd-php4, not application/x-httpd-php.

Is there anything else that is required for this kind of override to be allowed in .htaccess?

dalecosp

Hmm, here the relevant info from my httpd.conf:

 <IfModule mod_php4.c>
        AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .html .asp .php3
        AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps
    </IfModule>

This is Apache 1.3.x and PHP 4.3.4 ....

HTH,

Linda_A

According to my host, she uses:

AddType application/x-httpd-php4 .php .php3
AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps

(although not setup with the IfModule wrapper)

However, she is using Apache 2.0.40 (Red Hat Linux) and PHP 4.3.7.

dalecosp

Well, she should probably take a good look at the rather promiment "warning" on this page.

I'd do a little checking at bugs.php.net, and hope for the best. You might also ask if she'd be willing to make the change in httpd.conf (server wide), although I could very well understand if she laughed in your face; if she's hosting a lot of sites, the performance hit in having PHP parse every page with an .html extension could be rather taxing on the server(s) ....

Linda_A

Unfortunately, she does host a lot of sites, so enabling it server-wide wouldn't be a good idea.

Regarding the warning, tt would strike me as odd if any incompatability was behind this particular problem, given that enabling PHP in .php files works just fine.

Also, that page seem to suggests that PHP 4.3.7 and Apache 2.0.40 should be compatible (if it I read it correctly, it says that PHP 4.3.0 and later is compatible with Apache 2.0.40 or later).

devinemke

on my FreeBSD server this worked:

AddHandler application/x-httpd-php .php .html

Linda_A

No luck with that either, but thanks for suggesting it. 🙂

Does anyone know if my assumption is correct that I should use the same directive as exists in httpd.conf to enable PHP for .html?

That is, since httpd.conf uses AddType application/x-httpd-php4, shouldn't I use AddType application/x-httpd-php4 too? Or could AddHandler or another version still work?

devinemke

you may also want to try:

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .html
AddHandler application/x-httpd-php .php .html
Action application/x-httpd-php /usr/local/bin/php

replace /usr/local/bin/php with wherever php is installed. another thing to consider is how these htaccess directives work depending on PHP as an Apache module or CGI. i'm not sure is there is a difference.

Linda_A

I'll give that a try too. 🙂

I do know that PHP is run as an Apache module on the server, and not as a CGI process, because I checked with my host about that regarding another problem earlier on.

Edited to add: Tried those directives, but then I was unable to load the page. The error message said something about the maximum number of redirects for the page having been passed. This seemed to depend on the last directive, as I didn't get this error without it in the .htaccess. But the other two on their own did nothing.

drew010

as opposed to enabling it server wide by using httpd.conf try making a .htaccess file in the root directory of your web folder, i.e. in /home/username/public_html or whatever it is, and put in
AddHandler application/x-httpd-php .html

Linda_A

I am actually trying to use the .htaccess. 🙂 I don't have access to httpd.conf, but I asked my host what directives she uses for php, and she said this:

AddType application/x-httpd-php4 .php .php3
AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps

So, I have been trying AddType application/x-httpd-php4 .php .html and various variations, with no luck, in my .htaccess.

drew010

AddType isnt going to be what you will want to use in your .htaccess. AddType is for what it implies, mapping a new type to a specific extension. AddHandler will take an existing extension and use a given type to handle it. basically it is changing .html from text/html to application/x-httpd-php. if the above examples given arent working for you, there may be something going on with apache permissions. if the host has allowoverride none or doesnt include FileInfo in it, it wont permit you to change the document types. AllowOverride none will actually completely ignore your .htaccess file.
see http://httpd.apache.org/docs/mod/core.html#allowoverride for more details.

Linda_A

Ah, okay, that explains the AddType and AddHandler difference. Thank you. 🙂

I kept coming across people suggesting AddType when I searched for information, but my current .htaccess does use AddHandler to enable SSI for .html, and that works fine. I do, btw, remove that when testing for PHP, as I was told you can't enable both for the same extension.

I'll give AddHandler another try, perhaps I have missed something in my .htaccess that is interfering. Should I, for example, have an AddType text/html .html directive in there as well? I do currently, since I was told that to enable SSI, I needed both AddHandler server-parsed .html and AddType text/html .html, and I thought the same was true for PHP too.

I do know that my host has AllowOverride All and Options All set (and I use .htaccess successfully for other things, like SSI), but what is FileInfo?

Edited to add: I tried AddHandler application/x-httpd-php4 .html and AddHandler application/x-httpd-php .html, but neither did the trick.

drew010

you wont need to have AddHandler text/html .html for html files since the mime.types file on the server defaults to that. if adding server-parsed .html works and application/x-httpd-php .html doesnt, i cant really guess what the problem would be.
FileInfo is just an option that says whether or not .htaccess can change info about files like the icon, handler, etc...

Linda_A

Okay, thanks. 🙂 Looks like this one is a mystery, then.

I wonder if the error is in Apache or PHP. Given that all the rest of my .htaccess works fine, I'd be inclined to say in PHP, but I don't know enough about these things.

I am, btw, able to use the following directive to enable PHP for an extension-less file used with Expression Engine:

<Files EE>
AcceptPathInfo on
SetOutputFilter PHP
SetInputFilter PHP
</Files>

This works fine, but it seems to use a different approach.

Linda_A

I decided to try:

<Files *.html>
AcceptPathInfo on
SetOutputFilter PHP
SetInputFilter PHP
</Files>

This does work. However, since no one has recommended it, I have to wonder if this is a bad solution for some reason or other? 🙂