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.CACHE(5)                           GoFish                           .CACHE(5)


NAME

        .cache - description files for the GoFish gopher server


DESCRIPTION

       The GoFish gopher server uses .cache files for directory listings.  A
       serve as a directory page. GoFish will serve *any* page that resides
       inside the chroot jail and has read permissions for the gopher uid/gid.

       However, unless the caller has prior knowledge of a file, only files
       specified in the .cache file will be displayed.

       The .cache file does not need to contain only the files in the current
       directory. Any file in gopherspace, and this means external as well as
       internal files, can be put in the .cache.


FILE FORMAT

       The .cache file is an ascii text file. It is sent to the client as the
       directory listing. This means that the .cache file must match the
       gopher spec. Here is my take on a BNF for GoFish.

         <type><desc>tab[019]<path>tab<server>tab<port>

       tab - is the ASCII tab character as per the gopher spec
       <type> - can be any gopher type but should match the filetype in some
       way
       <desc> - is a description of the file. This field can contain any ascii
       text except tab
       [019] - GoFish allowed file types. See below.
       <pathname> - is the path for the file, rooted at the chroot jail home
       <server> - is the server name. This does not have to be local.
       <port> - is the port number. Usually 70.


EXAMPLE

       0Text File     0/text.txt     domain.com     70
       hHTML File     0/text.html    domain.com     70
       9Binary File   9/binary.tgz   domain.com     70
       Iimage.gif     9/image.gif    domain.com     70
       1Directory     1/asubdir/     domain.com     70


FILE TYPES

       At a basic level GoFish only understands two types of file: text (0)
       and binary (9). Directory specifications (1) are special in the GoFish
       knows to concat the .cache to the end of the specification. But it is
       then treated as a text file.

       There is a distinction between text and binary files because the gopher
       spec says that text files end with a period (.) on a line by itself.
       Binary files are sent raw. Most modern clients have no problem with
       sending a text file marked binary. In fact, both Netscape and IE will
       display the final . from a text file. However, for old clients, you
       should specify the text files as such.

       The gopher type at the start of a line can be more expressive. This
       tells the client what type of file it is. For example, an html file
       will be processed by Netscape/IE as an html file. A binary file will
       popup a dialog box asking if you want to save the file. An image will
       be displayed if possible.


FILE PERMISSIONS

       GoFish must run as root to be able to accept connections on the
       privileged port 70.  However, it does not need to be root to serve the
       files.  GoFish drops to a non-privileged user while opening the file.
       This means you can protect special files if you want. GoFish has no
       checking, it will server any file that the user knows the name of.


SEE ALSO

       gofish(1)


AUTHOR

       Written by Sean MacLennan


REPORTING BUGS

       Report bugs to <headgopher@seanm.ca>.


COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 2002 Sean MacLennan
       This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is
       NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
       PURPOSE.

                                  August 2002                        .CACHE(5)

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