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7 <TITLE>
8 FastCGI Specification
9 </TITLE>
10 <STYLE TYPE="text/css">
11 h5.c2 {text-align: center}
12 div.c1 {text-align: center}
13 </STYLE>
14 </HEAD>
15 <BODY>
16 <DIV CLASS="c1">
17 <H2>
18 FastCGI Specification
19 </H2>
20 </DIV>
21 <DIV CLASS="c1">
22 Mark R. Brown<BR>
23 Open Market, Inc.<BR>
24 <P>
25 Document Version: 1.0<BR>
26 29 April 1996<BR>
27 </P>
28 </DIV>
29 <P>
30 </P>
31 <H5 CLASS="c2">
32 Copyright &copy; 1996 Open Market, Inc. 245 First Street, Cambridge, MA 02142 U.S.A.<BR>
33 Tel: 617-621-9500 Fax: 617-621-1703 URL: <A HREF=
34 "http://www.openmarket.com/">http://www.openmarket.com/</A><BR>
35 <BR>
36 $Id: fcgi-spec.html,v 1.4 2002/02/25 00:42:59 robs Exp $
37 </H5>
38 <HR>
39 <UL TYPE="square">
40 <LI>
41 <A HREF="#S1">1. Introduction</A>
42 </LI>
43 <LI>
44 <A HREF="#S2">2. Initial Process State</A>
45 <UL TYPE="square">
46 <LI>
47 <A HREF="#S2.1">2.1 Argument list</A>
48 </LI>
49 <LI>
50 <A HREF="#S2.2">2.2 File descriptors</A>
51 </LI>
52 <LI>
53 <A HREF="#S2.3">2.3 Environment variables</A>
54 </LI>
55 <LI>
56 <A HREF="#S2.4">2.4 Other state</A>
57 </LI>
58 </UL>
59 </LI>
60 <LI>
61 <A HREF="#S3">3. Protocol Basics</A>
62 <UL TYPE="square">
63 <LI>
64 <A HREF="#S3.1">3.1 Notation</A>
65 </LI>
66 <LI>
67 <A HREF="#S3.2">3.2 Accepting Transport Connections</A>
68 </LI>
69 <LI>
70 <A HREF="#S3.3">3.3 Records</A>
71 </LI>
72 <LI>
73 <A HREF="#S3.4">3.4 Name-Value Pairs</A>
74 </LI>
75 <LI>
76 <A HREF="#S3.5">3.5 Closing Transport Connections</A>
77 </LI>
78 </UL>
79 </LI>
80 <LI>
81 <A HREF="#S4">4. Management Record Types</A>
82 <UL TYPE="square">
83 <LI>
84 <A HREF="#S4.1">4.1 <TT>FCGI_GET_VALUES, FCGI_GET_VALUES_RESULT</TT></A>
85 </LI>
86 <LI>
87 <A HREF="#S4.2">4.2 <TT>FCGI_UNKNOWN_TYPE</TT></A>
88 </LI>
89 </UL>
90 </LI>
91 <LI>
92 <A HREF="#S5">5. Application Record Types</A>
93 <UL TYPE="square">
94 <LI>
95 <A HREF="#S5.1">5.1 <TT>FCGI_BEGIN_REQUEST</TT></A>
96 </LI>
97 <LI>
98 <A HREF="#S5.2">5.2 Name-Value Pair Streams: <TT>FCGI_PARAMS</TT>, <TT>FCGI_RESULTS</TT></A>
99 </LI>
100 <LI>
101 <A HREF="#S5.3">5.3 Byte Streams: <TT>FCGI_STDIN</TT>, <TT>FCGI_DATA</TT>, <TT>FCGI_STDOUT</TT>,
102 <TT>FCGI_STDERR</TT></A>
103 </LI>
104 <LI>
105 <A HREF="#S5.4">5.4 <TT>FCGI_ABORT_REQUEST</TT></A>
106 </LI>
107 <LI>
108 <A HREF="#S5.5">5.5 <TT>FCGI_END_REQUEST</TT></A>
109 </LI>
110 </UL>
111 </LI>
112 <LI>
113 <A HREF="#S6">6. Roles</A>
114 <UL TYPE="square">
115 <LI>
116 <A HREF="#S6.1">6.1 Role Protocols</A>
117 </LI>
118 <LI>
119 <A HREF="#S6.2">6.2 Responder</A>
120 </LI>
121 <LI>
122 <A HREF="#S6.3">6.3 Authorizer</A>
123 </LI>
124 <LI>
125 <A HREF="#S6.4">6.4 Filter</A>
126 </LI>
127 </UL>
128 </LI>
129 <LI>
130 <A HREF="#S7">7. Errors</A>
131 </LI>
132 <LI>
133 <A HREF="#S8">8. Types and Constants</A>
134 </LI>
135 <LI>
136 <A HREF="#S9">9. References</A>
137 </LI>
138 <LI>
139 <A HREF="#SA">A. Table: Properties of the record types</A>
140 </LI>
141 <LI>
142 <A HREF="#SB">B. Typical Protocol Message Flow</A>
143 </LI>
144 </UL>
146 </P>
147 <HR>
148 <H3>
149 <A NAME="S1">1. Introduction</A>
150 </H3>
152 FastCGI is an open extension to CGI that provides high performance for all Internet applications without the
153 penalties of Web server APIs.
154 </P>
156 This specification has narrow goal: to specify, from an application perspective, the interface between a
157 FastCGI application and a Web server that supports FastCGI. Many Web server features related to FastCGI, e.g.
158 application management facilities, have nothing to do with the application to Web server interface, and are
159 not described here.
160 </P>
162 This specification is for Unix (more precisely, for POSIX systems that support Berkeley Sockets). The bulk of
163 the specification is a simple communications protocol that is independent of byte ordering and will extend to
164 other systems.
165 </P>
167 We&#39;ll introduce FastCGI by comparing it with conventional Unix implementations of CGI/1.1. FastCGI is
168 designed to support long-lived application processes, i.e. <I>application servers</I>. That&#39;s a major
169 difference compared with conventional Unix implementations of CGI/1.1, which construct an application process,
170 use it respond to one request, and have it exit.
171 </P>
173 The initial state of a FastCGI process is more spartan than the initial state of a CGI/1.1 process, because
174 the FastCGI process doesn&#39;t begin life connected to anything. It doesn&#39;t have the conventional open
175 files <TT>stdin</TT>, <TT>stdout</TT>, and <TT>stderr</TT>, and it doesn&#39;t receive much information
176 through environment variables. The key piece of initial state in a FastCGI process is a listening socket,
177 through which it accepts connections from a Web server.
178 </P>
180 After a FastCGI process accepts a connection on its listening socket, the process executes a simple protocol
181 to receive and send data. The protocol serves two purposes. First, the protocol multiplexes a single transport
182 connection between several independent FastCGI requests. This supports applications that are able to process
183 concurrent requests using event-driven or multi-threaded programming techniques. Second, within each request
184 the protocol provides several independent data streams in each direction. This way, for instance, both
185 <TT>stdout</TT> and <TT>stderr</TT> data pass over a single transport connection from the application to the
186 Web server, rather than requiring separate pipes as with CGI/1.1.
187 </P>
189 A FastCGI application plays one of several well-defined <I>roles</I>. The most familiar is the
190 <I>Responder</I> role, in which the application receives all the information associated with an HTTP request
191 and generates an HTTP response; that&#39;s the role CGI/1.1 programs play. A second role is <I>Authorizer</I>,
192 in which the application receives all the information associated with an HTTP request and generates an
193 authorized/unauthorized decision. A third role is <I>Filter</I>, in which the application receives all the
194 information associated with an HTTP request, plus an extra stream of data from a file stored on the Web
195 server, and generates a &quot;filtered&quot; version of the data stream as an HTTP response. The framework is
196 extensible so that more FastCGI can be defined later.
197 </P>
199 In the remainder of this specification the terms &quot;FastCGI application,&quot; &quot;application
200 process,&quot; or &quot;application server&quot; are abbreviated to &quot;application&quot; whenever that
201 won&#39;t cause confusion.
202 </P>
204 </P>
205 <H3>
206 <A NAME="S2">2. Initial Process State</A>
207 </H3>
208 <H4>
209 <A NAME="S2.1">2.1 Argument list</A>
210 </H4>
212 By default the Web server creates an argument list containing a single element, the name of the application,
213 taken to be the last component of the executable&#39;s path name. The Web server may provide a way to specify
214 a different application name, or a more elaborate argument list.
215 </P>
217 Note that the file executed by the Web server might be an interpreter file (a text file that starts with the
218 characters <TT>#!</TT>), in which case the application&#39;s argument list is constructed as described in the
219 <TT>execve</TT> manpage.
220 </P>
222 </P>
223 <H4>
224 <A NAME="S2.2">2.2 File descriptors</A>
225 </H4>
227 The Web server leaves a single file descriptor, <TT>FCGI_LISTENSOCK_FILENO</TT>, open when the application
228 begins execution. This descriptor refers to a listening socket created by the Web server.
229 </P>
231 <TT>FCGI_LISTENSOCK_FILENO</TT> equals <TT>STDIN_FILENO</TT>. The standard descriptors <TT>STDOUT_FILENO</TT>
232 and <TT>STDERR_FILENO</TT> are closed when the application begins execution. A reliable method for an
233 application to determine whether it was invoked using CGI or FastCGI is to call
234 <TT>getpeername(FCGI_LISTENSOCK_FILENO)</TT>, which returns -1 with <TT>errno</TT> set to <TT>ENOTCONN</TT>
235 for a FastCGI application.
236 </P>
238 The Web server&#39;s choice of reliable transport, Unix stream pipes (<TT>AF_UNIX</TT>) or TCP/IP
239 (<TT>AF_INET</TT>), is implicit in the internal state of the <TT>FCGI_LISTENSOCK_FILENO</TT> socket.
240 </P>
242 </P>
243 <H4>
244 <A NAME="S2.3">2.3 Environment variables</A>
245 </H4>
247 The Web server may use environment variables to pass parameters to the application. This specification defines
248 one such variable, <TT>FCGI_WEB_SERVER_ADDRS</TT>; we expect more to be defined as the specification evolves.
249 The Web server may provide a way to bind other environment variables, such as the <TT>PATH</TT> variable.
250 </P>
252 </P>
253 <H4>
254 <A NAME="S2.4">2.4 Other state</A>
255 </H4>
257 The Web server may provide a way to specify other components of an application&#39;s initial process state,
258 such as the priority, user ID, group ID, root directory, and working directory of the process.
259 </P>
261 </P>
262 <H3>
263 <A NAME="S3">3. Protocol Basics</A>
264 </H3>
265 <H4>
266 <A NAME="S3.1">3.1 Notation</A>
267 </H4>
269 We use C language notation to define protocol message formats. All structure elements are defined in terms of
270 the <TT>unsigned char</TT> type, and are arranged so that an ISO C compiler lays them out in the obvious
271 manner, with no padding. The first byte defined in the structure is transmitted first, the second byte second,
272 etc.
273 </P>
275 We use two conventions to abbreviate our definitions.
276 </P>
278 First, when two adjacent structure components are named identically except for the suffixes
279 &quot;<TT>B1</TT>&quot; and &quot;<TT>B0</TT>,&quot; it means that the two components may be viewed as a
280 single number, computed as <TT>B1&lt;&lt;8 + B0</TT>. The name of this single number is the name of the
281 components, minus the suffixes. This convention generalizes in an obvious way to handle numbers represented in
282 more than two bytes.
283 </P>
285 Second, we extend C <TT>struct</TT>s to allow the form
286 </P>
287 <PRE>
288 struct {
289 unsigned char mumbleLengthB1;
290 unsigned char mumbleLengthB0;
291 ... /* other stuff */
292 unsigned char mumbleData[mumbleLength];
294 </PRE>
296 meaning a structure of varying length, where the length of a component is determined by the values of the
297 indicated earlier component or components.
298 </P>
300 </P>
301 <H4>
302 <A NAME="S3.2">3.2 Accepting Transport Connections</A>
303 </H4>
305 A FastCGI application calls <TT>accept()</TT> on the socket referred to by file descriptor
306 <TT>FCGI_LISTENSOCK_FILENO</TT> to accept a new transport connection. If the <TT>accept()</TT> succeeds, and
307 the <TT>FCGI_WEB_SERVER_ADDRS</TT> environment variable is bound, the application application immediately
308 performs the following special processing:
309 </P>
311 </P>
312 <UL TYPE="square">
313 <LI>
314 <TT>FCGI_WEB_SERVER_ADDRS</TT>: The value is a list of valid IP addresses for the Web server.
316 If <TT>FCGI_WEB_SERVER_ADDRS</TT> was bound, the application checks the peer IP address of the new
317 connection for membership in the list. If the check fails (including the possibility that the connection
318 didn&#39;t use TCP/IP transport), the application responds by closing the connection.
319 </P>
321 <TT>FCGI_WEB_SERVER_ADDRS</TT> is expressed as a comma-separated list of IP addresses. Each IP address
322 is written as four decimal numbers in the range [0..255] separated by decimal points. So one legal
323 binding for this variable is <TT>FCGI_WEB_SERVER_ADDRS=199.170.183.28,199.170.183.71</TT>.
324 </P>
325 <BR>
326 <BR>
327 </LI>
328 </UL>
330 An application may accept several concurrent transport connections, but it need not do so.
331 </P>
333 </P>
334 <H4>
335 <A NAME="S3.3">3.3 Records</A>
336 </H4>
338 Applications execute requests from a Web server using a simple protocol. Details of the protocol depend upon
339 the application&#39;s role, but roughly speaking the Web server first sends parameters and other data to the
340 application, then the application sends result data to the Web server, and finally the application sends the
341 Web server an indication that the request is complete.
342 </P>
344 All data that flows over the transport connection is carried in <I>FastCGI records</I>. FastCGI records
345 accomplish two things. First, records multiplex the transport connection between several independent FastCGI
346 requests. This multiplexing supports applications that are able to process concurrent requests using
347 event-driven or multi-threaded programming techniques. Second, records provide several independent data
348 streams in each direction within a single request. This way, for instance, both <TT>stdout</TT> and
349 <TT>stderr</TT> data can pass over a single transport connection from the application to the Web server,
350 rather than requiring separate connections.
351 </P>
353 </P>
354 <PRE>
355 typedef struct {
356 unsigned char version;
357 unsigned char type;
358 unsigned char requestIdB1;
359 unsigned char requestIdB0;
360 unsigned char contentLengthB1;
361 unsigned char contentLengthB0;
362 unsigned char paddingLength;
363 unsigned char reserved;
364 unsigned char contentData[contentLength];
365 unsigned char paddingData[paddingLength];
366 } FCGI_Record;
367 </PRE>
369 A FastCGI record consists of a fixed-length prefix followed by a variable number of content and padding bytes.
370 A record contains seven components:
371 </P>
373 </P>
374 <UL TYPE="square">
375 <LI>
376 <TT>version</TT>: Identifies the FastCGI protocol version. This specification documents
377 <TT>FCGI_VERSION_1</TT>.
379 </P>
380 </LI>
381 <LI>
382 <TT>type</TT>: Identifies the FastCGI record type, i.e. the general function that the record performs.
383 Specific record types and their functions are detailed in later sections.
385 </P>
386 </LI>
387 <LI>
388 <TT>requestId</TT>: Identifies the <I>FastCGI request</I> to which the record belongs.
390 </P>
391 </LI>
392 <LI>
393 <TT>contentLength</TT>: The number of bytes in the <TT>contentData</TT> component of the record.
395 </P>
396 </LI>
397 <LI>
398 <TT>paddingLength</TT>: The number of bytes in the <TT>paddingData</TT> component of the record.
400 </P>
401 </LI>
402 <LI>
403 <TT>contentData</TT>: Between 0 and 65535 bytes of data, interpreted according to the record type.
405 </P>
406 </LI>
407 <LI>
408 <TT>paddingData</TT>: Between 0 and 255 bytes of data, which are ignored.<BR>
409 <BR>
410 </LI>
411 </UL>
413 We use a relaxed C <TT>struct</TT> initializer syntax to specify constant FastCGI records. We omit the
414 <TT>version</TT> component, ignore padding, and treat <TT>requestId</TT> as a number. Thus
415 <TT>{FCGI_END_REQUEST, 1, {FCGI_REQUEST_COMPLETE,0}}</TT> is a record with <TT>type == FCGI_END_REQUEST</TT>,
416 <TT>requestId == 1</TT>, and <TT>contentData == {FCGI_REQUEST_COMPLETE,0}</TT>.
417 </P>
419 </P>
420 <H5>
421 Padding
422 </H5>
424 The protocol allows senders to pad the records they send, and requires receivers to interpret the
425 <TT>paddingLength</TT> and skip the <TT>paddingData</TT>. Padding allows senders to keep data aligned for more
426 efficient processing. Experience with the X window system protocols shows the performance benefit of such
427 alignment.
428 </P>
430 We recommend that records be placed on boundaries that are multiples of eight bytes. The fixed-length portion
431 of a <TT>FCGI_Record</TT> is eight bytes.
432 </P>
434 </P>
435 <H5>
436 Managing Request IDs
437 </H5>
439 The Web server re-uses FastCGI request IDs; the application keeps track of the current state of each request
440 ID on a given transport connection. A request ID <TT>R</TT> becomes active when the application receives a
441 record <TT>{FCGI_BEGIN_REQUEST, R, ...}</TT> and becomes inactive when the application sends a record
442 <TT>{FCGI_END_REQUEST, R, ...}</TT> to the Web server.
443 </P>
445 While a request ID <TT>R</TT> is inactive, the application ignores records with <TT>requestId == R</TT>,
446 except for <TT>FCGI_BEGIN_REQUEST</TT> records as just described.
447 </P>
449 The Web server attempts to keep FastCGI request IDs small. That way the application can keep track of request
450 ID states using a short array rather than a long array or a hash table. An application also has the option of
451 accepting only one request at a time. In this case the application simply checks incoming <TT>requestId</TT>
452 values against the current request ID.
453 </P>
455 </P>
456 <H5>
457 Types of Record Types
458 </H5>
460 There are two useful ways of classifying FastCGI record types.
461 </P>
463 The first distinction is between <I>management</I> records and <I>application</I> records. A management record
464 contains information that is not specific to any Web server request, such as information about the protocol
465 capabilities of the application. An application record contains information about a particular request,
466 identified by the <TT>requestId</TT> component.
467 </P>
469 Management records have a <TT>requestId</TT> value of zero, also called the <I>null request ID</I>.
470 Application records have a nonzero <TT>requestId</TT>.
471 </P>
473 The second distinction is between <I>discrete</I> and <I>stream</I> records. A discrete record contains a
474 meaningful unit of data all by itself. A stream record is part of a <I>stream</I>, i.e. a series of zero or
475 more non-empty records (<TT>length != 0</TT>) of the stream type, followed by an empty record (<TT>length ==
476 0</TT>) of the stream type. The <TT>contentData</TT> components of a stream&#39;s records, when concatenated,
477 form a byte sequence; this byte sequence is the value of the stream. Therefore the value of a stream is
478 independent of how many records it contains or how its bytes are divided among the non-empty records.
479 </P>
481 These two classifications are independent. Among the record types defined in this version of the FastCGI
482 protocol, all management record types are also discrete record types, and nearly all application record types
483 are stream record types. But three application record types are discrete, and nothing prevents defining a
484 management record type that&#39;s a stream in some later version of the protocol.
485 </P>
487 </P>
488 <H4>
489 <A NAME="S3.4">3.4 Name-Value Pairs</A>
490 </H4>
492 In many of their roles, FastCGI applications need to read and write varying numbers of variable-length values.
493 So it is useful to adopt a standard format for encoding a name-value pair.
494 </P>
496 FastCGI transmits a name-value pair as the length of the name, followed by the length of the value, followed
497 by the name, followed by the value. Lengths of 127 bytes and less can be encoded in one byte, while longer
498 lengths are always encoded in four bytes:
499 </P>
501 </P>
502 <PRE>
503 typedef struct {
504 unsigned char nameLengthB0; /* nameLengthB0 &gt;&gt; 7 == 0 */
505 unsigned char valueLengthB0; /* valueLengthB0 &gt;&gt; 7 == 0 */
506 unsigned char nameData[nameLength];
507 unsigned char valueData[valueLength];
508 } FCGI_NameValuePair11;
510 typedef struct {
511 unsigned char nameLengthB0; /* nameLengthB0 &gt;&gt; 7 == 0 */
512 unsigned char valueLengthB3; /* valueLengthB3 &gt;&gt; 7 == 1 */
513 unsigned char valueLengthB2;
514 unsigned char valueLengthB1;
515 unsigned char valueLengthB0;
516 unsigned char nameData[nameLength];
517 unsigned char valueData[valueLength
518 ((B3 &amp; 0x7f) &lt;&lt; 24) + (B2 &lt;&lt; 16) + (B1 &lt;&lt; 8) + B0];
519 } FCGI_NameValuePair14;
521 typedef struct {
522 unsigned char nameLengthB3; /* nameLengthB3 &gt;&gt; 7 == 1 */
523 unsigned char nameLengthB2;
524 unsigned char nameLengthB1;
525 unsigned char nameLengthB0;
526 unsigned char valueLengthB0; /* valueLengthB0 &gt;&gt; 7 == 0 */
527 unsigned char nameData[nameLength
528 ((B3 &amp; 0x7f) &lt;&lt; 24) + (B2 &lt;&lt; 16) + (B1 &lt;&lt; 8) + B0];
529 unsigned char valueData[valueLength];
530 } FCGI_NameValuePair41;
532 typedef struct {
533 unsigned char nameLengthB3; /* nameLengthB3 &gt;&gt; 7 == 1 */
534 unsigned char nameLengthB2;
535 unsigned char nameLengthB1;
536 unsigned char nameLengthB0;
537 unsigned char valueLengthB3; /* valueLengthB3 &gt;&gt; 7 == 1 */
538 unsigned char valueLengthB2;
539 unsigned char valueLengthB1;
540 unsigned char valueLengthB0;
541 unsigned char nameData[nameLength
542 ((B3 &amp; 0x7f) &lt;&lt; 24) + (B2 &lt;&lt; 16) + (B1 &lt;&lt; 8) + B0];
543 unsigned char valueData[valueLength
544 ((B3 &amp; 0x7f) &lt;&lt; 24) + (B2 &lt;&lt; 16) + (B1 &lt;&lt; 8) + B0];
545 } FCGI_NameValuePair44;
546 </PRE>
548 The high-order bit of the first byte of a length indicates the length&#39;s encoding. A high-order zero
549 implies a one-byte encoding, a one a four-byte encoding.
550 </P>
552 This name-value pair format allows the sender to transmit binary values without additional encoding, and
553 enables the receiver to allocate the correct amount of storage immediately even for large values.
554 </P>
556 </P>
557 <H4>
558 <A NAME="S3.5">3.5 Closing Transport Connections</A>
559 </H4>
561 The Web server controls the lifetime of transport connections. The Web server can close a connection when no
562 requests are active. Or the Web server can delegate close authority to the application (see
563 <TT>FCGI_BEGIN_REQUEST</TT>). In this case the application closes the connection at the end of a specified
564 request.
565 </P>
567 This flexibility accommodates a variety of application styles. Simple applications will process one request at
568 a time and accept a new transport connection for each request. More complex applications will process
569 concurrent requests, over one or multiple transport connections, and will keep transport connections open for
570 long periods of time.
571 </P>
573 A simple application gets a significant performance boost by closing the transport connection when it has
574 finished writing its response. The Web server needs to control the connection lifetime for long-lived
575 connections.
576 </P>
578 When an application closes a connection or finds that a connection has closed, the application initiates a new
579 connection.
580 </P>
582 </P>
583 <H3>
584 <A NAME="S4">4. Management Record Types</A>
585 </H3>
586 <H4>
587 <A NAME="S4.1">4.1 <TT>FCGI_GET_VALUES, FCGI_GET_VALUES_RESULT</TT></A>
588 </H4>
590 The Web server can query specific variables within the application. The server will typically perform a query
591 on application startup in order to to automate certain aspects of system configuration.
592 </P>
594 The application receives a query as a record <TT>{FCGI_GET_VALUES, 0, ...}</TT>. The <TT>contentData</TT>
595 portion of a <TT>FCGI_GET_VALUES</TT> record contains a sequence of name-value pairs with empty values.
596 </P>
598 The application responds by sending a record <TT>{FCGI_GET_VALUES_RESULT, 0, ...}</TT> with the values
599 supplied. If the application doesn&#39;t understand a variable name that was included in the query, it omits
600 that name from the response.
601 </P>
603 <TT>FCGI_GET_VALUES</TT> is designed to allow an open-ended set of variables. The initial set provides
604 information to help the server perform application and connection management:
605 </P>
607 </P>
608 <UL TYPE="square">
609 <LI>
610 <TT>FCGI_MAX_CONNS</TT>: The maximum number of concurrent transport connections this application will
611 accept, e.g. <TT>&quot;1&quot;</TT> or <TT>&quot;10&quot;</TT>.
613 </P>
614 </LI>
615 <LI>
616 <TT>FCGI_MAX_REQS</TT>: The maximum number of concurrent requests this application will accept, e.g.
617 <TT>&quot;1&quot;</TT> or <TT>&quot;50&quot;</TT>.
619 </P>
620 </LI>
621 <LI>
622 <TT>FCGI_MPXS_CONNS</TT>: <TT>&quot;0&quot;</TT> if this application does not multiplex connections (i.e.
623 handle concurrent requests over each connection), <TT>&quot;1&quot;</TT> otherwise.<BR>
624 <BR>
625 </LI>
626 </UL>
628 An application may receive a <TT>FCGI_GET_VALUES</TT> record at any time. The application&#39;s response
629 should not involve the application proper but only the FastCGI library.
630 </P>
632 </P>
633 <H4>
634 <A NAME="S4.2">4.2 <TT>FCGI_UNKNOWN_TYPE</TT></A>
635 </H4>
637 The set of management record types is likely to grow in future versions of this protocol. To provide for this
638 evolution, the protocol includes the <TT>FCGI_UNKNOWN_TYPE</TT> management record. When an application
639 receives a management record whose type <TT>T</TT> it does not understand, the application responds with
640 <TT>{FCGI_UNKNOWN_TYPE, 0, {T}}</TT>.
641 </P>
643 The <TT>contentData</TT> component of a <TT>FCGI_UNKNOWN_TYPE</TT> record has the form:
644 </P>
645 <PRE>
646 typedef struct {
647 unsigned char type;
648 unsigned char reserved[7];
649 } FCGI_UnknownTypeBody;
650 </PRE>
652 The <TT>type</TT> component is the type of the unrecognized management record.
653 </P>
655 </P>
656 <H3>
657 <A NAME="S5">5. Application Record Types</A>
658 </H3>
659 <H4>
660 <A NAME="S5.1">5.1 <TT>FCGI_BEGIN_REQUEST</TT></A>
661 </H4>
663 The Web server sends a <TT>FCGI_BEGIN_REQUEST</TT> record to start a request.
664 </P>
666 The <TT>contentData</TT> component of a <TT>FCGI_BEGIN_REQUEST</TT> record has the form:
667 </P>
668 <PRE>
669 typedef struct {
670 unsigned char roleB1;
671 unsigned char roleB0;
672 unsigned char flags;
673 unsigned char reserved[5];
674 } FCGI_BeginRequestBody;
675 </PRE>
677 The <TT>role</TT> component sets the role the Web server expects the application to play. The
678 currently-defined roles are:
679 </P>
681 </P>
682 <UL TYPE="square">
683 <LI>
684 <TT>FCGI_RESPONDER</TT>
685 </LI>
686 <LI>
687 <TT>FCGI_AUTHORIZER</TT>
688 </LI>
689 <LI>
690 <TT>FCGI_FILTER</TT>
691 </LI>
692 </UL>
694 Roles are described in more detail in <A HREF="#S6">Section 6</A> below.
695 </P>
697 The <TT>flags</TT> component contains a bit that controls connection shutdown:
698 </P>
700 </P>
701 <UL TYPE="square">
702 <LI>
703 <TT>flags &amp; FCGI_KEEP_CONN</TT>: If zero, the application closes the connection after responding to
704 this request. If not zero, the application does not close the connection after responding to this request;
705 the Web server retains responsibility for the connection.<BR>
706 <BR>
707 </LI>
708 </UL>
709 <H4>
710 <A NAME="S5.2">5.2 Name-Value Pair Stream: <TT>FCGI_PARAMS</TT></A>
711 </H4>
712 <TT>FCGI_PARAMS</TT>
714 is a stream record type used in sending name-value pairs from the Web server to the application. The
715 name-value pairs are sent down the stream one after the other, in no specified order.
716 </P>
718 </P>
719 <H4>
720 <A NAME="S5.3">5.3 Byte Streams: <TT>FCGI_STDIN</TT>, <TT>FCGI_DATA</TT>, <TT>FCGI_STDOUT</TT>,
721 <TT>FCGI_STDERR</TT></A>
722 </H4>
723 <TT>FCGI_STDIN</TT>
725 is a stream record type used in sending arbitrary data from the Web server to the application.
726 <TT>FCGI_DATA</TT> is a second stream record type used to send additional data to the application.
727 </P>
729 <TT>FCGI_STDOUT</TT> and <TT>FCGI_STDERR</TT> are stream record types for sending arbitrary data and error
730 data respectively from the application to the Web server.
731 </P>
733 </P>
734 <H4>
735 <A NAME="S5.4">5.4 <TT>FCGI_ABORT_REQUEST</TT></A>
736 </H4>
738 The Web server sends a <TT>FCGI_ABORT_REQUEST</TT> record to abort a request. After receiving
739 <TT>{FCGI_ABORT_REQUEST, R}</TT>, the application responds as soon as possible with <TT>{FCGI_END_REQUEST, R,
740 {FCGI_REQUEST_COMPLETE, appStatus}}</TT>. This is truly a response from the application, not a low-level
741 acknowledgement from the FastCGI library.
742 </P>
744 A Web server aborts a FastCGI request when an HTTP client closes its transport connection while the FastCGI
745 request is running on behalf of that client. The situation may seem unlikely; most FastCGI requests will have
746 short response times, with the Web server providing output buffering if the client is slow. But the FastCGI
747 application may be delayed communicating with another system, or performing a server push.
748 </P>
750 When a Web server is not multiplexing requests over a transport connection, the Web server can abort a request
751 by closing the request&#39;s transport connection. But with multiplexed requests, closing the transport
752 connection has the unfortunate effect of aborting <I>all</I> the requests on the connection.
753 </P>
755 </P>
756 <H4>
757 <A NAME="S5.5">5.5 <TT>FCGI_END_REQUEST</TT></A>
758 </H4>
760 The application sends a <TT>FCGI_END_REQUEST</TT> record to terminate a request, either because the
761 application has processed the request or because the application has rejected the request.
762 </P>
764 The <TT>contentData</TT> component of a <TT>FCGI_END_REQUEST</TT> record has the form:
765 </P>
766 <PRE>
767 typedef struct {
768 unsigned char appStatusB3;
769 unsigned char appStatusB2;
770 unsigned char appStatusB1;
771 unsigned char appStatusB0;
772 unsigned char protocolStatus;
773 unsigned char reserved[3];
774 } FCGI_EndRequestBody;
775 </PRE>
777 The <TT>appStatus</TT> component is an application-level status code. Each role documents its usage of
778 <TT>appStatus</TT>.
779 </P>
781 The <TT>protocolStatus</TT> component is a protocol-level status code; the possible <TT>protocolStatus</TT>
782 values are:
783 </P>
785 </P>
786 <UL TYPE="square">
787 <LI>
788 <TT>FCGI_REQUEST_COMPLETE</TT>: normal end of request.
790 </P>
791 </LI>
792 <LI>
793 <TT>FCGI_CANT_MPX_CONN</TT>: rejecting a new request. This happens when a Web server sends concurrent
794 requests over one connection to an application that is designed to process one request at a time per
795 connection.
797 </P>
798 </LI>
799 <LI>
800 <TT>FCGI_OVERLOADED</TT>: rejecting a new request. This happens when the application runs out of some
801 resource, e.g. database connections.
803 </P>
804 </LI>
805 <LI>
806 <TT>FCGI_UNKNOWN_ROLE</TT>: rejecting a new request. This happens when the Web server has specified a role
807 that is unknown to the application.<BR>
808 <BR>
809 </LI>
810 </UL>
811 <H3>
812 <A NAME="S6">6. Roles</A>
813 </H3>
814 <H4>
815 <A NAME="S6.1">6.1 Role Protocols</A>
816 </H4>
818 Role protocols only include records with application record types. They transfer essentially all data using
819 streams.
820 </P>
822 To make the protocols reliable and to simplify application programming, role protocols are designed to use
823 <I>nearly sequential marshalling</I>. In a protocol with strictly sequential marshalling, the application
824 receives its first input, then its second, etc. until it has received them all. Similarly, the application
825 sends its first output, then its second, etc. until it has sent them all. Inputs are not interleaved with each
826 other, and outputs are not interleaved with each other.
827 </P>
829 The sequential marshalling rule is too restrictive for some FastCGI roles, because CGI programs can write to
830 both <TT>stdout</TT> and <TT>stderr</TT> without timing restrictions. So role protocols that use both
831 <TT>FCGI_STDOUT</TT> and <TT>FCGI_STDERR</TT> allow these two streams to be interleaved.
832 </P>
834 All role protocols use the <TT>FCGI_STDERR</TT> stream just the way <TT>stderr</TT> is used in conventional
835 applications programming: to report application-level errors in an intelligible way. Use of the
836 <TT>FCGI_STDERR</TT> stream is always optional. If an application has no errors to report, it sends either no
837 <TT>FCGI_STDERR</TT> records or one zero-length <TT>FCGI_STDERR</TT> record.
838 </P>
840 When a role protocol calls for transmitting a stream other than <TT>FCGI_STDERR</TT>, at least one record of
841 the stream type is always transmitted, even if the stream is empty.
842 </P>
844 Again in the interests of reliable protocols and simplified application programming, role protocols are
845 designed to be <I>nearly request-response</I>. In a truly request-response protocol, the application receives
846 all of its input records before sending its first output record. Request-response protocols don&#39;t allow
847 pipelining.
848 </P>
850 The request-response rule is too restrictive for some FastCGI roles; after all, CGI programs aren&#39;t
851 restricted to read all of <TT>stdin</TT> before starting to write <TT>stdout</TT>. So some role protocols
852 allow that specific possibility. First the application receives all of its inputs except for a final stream
853 input. As the application begins to receive the final stream input, it can begin writing its output.
854 </P>
856 When a role protocol uses <TT>FCGI_PARAMS</TT> to transmit textual values, such as the values that CGI
857 programs obtain from environment variables, the length of the value does not include the terminating null
858 byte, and the value itself does not include a null byte. An application that needs to provide
859 <TT>environ(7)</TT> format name-value pairs must insert an equal sign between the name and value and append a
860 null byte after the value.
861 </P>
863 Role protocols do not support the non-parsed header feature of CGI. FastCGI applications set response status
864 using the <TT>Status</TT> and <TT>Location</TT> CGI headers.
865 </P>
867 </P>
868 <H4>
869 <A NAME="S6.2">6.2 Responder</A>
870 </H4>
872 A Responder FastCGI application has the same purpose as a CGI/1.1 program: It receives all the information
873 associated with an HTTP request and generates an HTTP response.
874 </P>
876 It suffices to explain how each element of CGI/1.1 is emulated by a Responder:
877 </P>
878 <BR>
879 <BR>
880 <UL TYPE="square">
881 <LI>
882 The Responder application receives CGI/1.1 environment variables from the Web server over
883 <TT>FCGI_PARAMS</TT>.
885 </P>
886 </LI>
887 <LI>
888 Next the Responder application receives CGI/1.1 <TT>stdin</TT> data from the Web server over
889 <TT>FCGI_STDIN</TT>. The application receives at most <TT>CONTENT_LENGTH</TT> bytes from this stream before
890 receiving the end-of-stream indication. (The application receives less than <TT>CONTENT_LENGTH</TT> bytes
891 only if the HTTP client fails to provide them, e.g. because the client crashed.)
893 </P>
894 </LI>
895 <LI>
896 The Responder application sends CGI/1.1 <TT>stdout</TT> data to the Web server over <TT>FCGI_STDOUT</TT>,
897 and CGI/1.1 <TT>stderr</TT> data over <TT>FCGI_STDERR</TT>. The application sends these concurrently, not
898 one after the other. The application must wait to finish reading <TT>FCGI_PARAMS</TT> before it begins
899 writing <TT>FCGI_STDOUT</TT> and <TT>FCGI_STDERR</TT>, but it needn&#39;t finish reading from
900 <TT>FCGI_STDIN</TT> before it begins writing these two streams.
902 </P>
903 </LI>
904 <LI>
905 After sending all its <TT>stdout</TT> and <TT>stderr</TT> data, the Responder application sends a
906 <TT>FCGI_END_REQUEST</TT> record. The application sets the <TT>protocolStatus</TT> component to
907 <TT>FCGI_REQUEST_COMPLETE</TT> and the <TT>appStatus</TT> component to the status code that the CGI program
908 would have returned via the <TT>exit</TT> system call.<BR>
909 <BR>
910 </LI>
911 </UL>
913 A Responder performing an update, e.g. implementing a <TT>POST</TT> method, should compare the number of bytes
914 received on <TT>FCGI_STDIN</TT> with <TT>CONTENT_LENGTH</TT> and abort the update if the two numbers are not
915 equal.
916 </P>
918 </P>
919 <H4>
920 <A NAME="S6.3">6.3 Authorizer</A>
921 </H4>
923 An Authorizer FastCGI application receives all the information associated with an HTTP request and generates
924 an authorized/unauthorized decision. In case of an authorized decision the Authorizer can also associate
925 name-value pairs with the HTTP request; when giving an unauthorized decision the Authorizer sends a complete
926 response to the HTTP client.
927 </P>
929 Since CGI/1.1 defines a perfectly good way to represent the information associated with an HTTP request,
930 Authorizers use the same representation:
931 </P>
933 </P>
934 <UL TYPE="square">
935 <LI>
936 The Authorizer application receives HTTP request information from the Web server on the
937 <TT>FCGI_PARAMS</TT> stream, in the same format as a Responder. The Web server does not send
938 <TT>CONTENT_LENGTH</TT>, <TT>PATH_INFO</TT>, <TT>PATH_TRANSLATED</TT>, and <TT>SCRIPT_NAME</TT> headers.
940 </P>
941 </LI>
942 <LI>
943 The Authorizer application sends <TT>stdout</TT> and <TT>stderr</TT> data in the same manner as a
944 Responder. The CGI/1.1 response status specifies the disposition of the request. If the application sends
945 status 200 (OK), the Web server allows access. Depending upon its configuration the Web server may proceed
946 with other access checks, including requests to other Authorizers.
948 An Authorizer application&#39;s 200 response may include headers whose names are prefixed with
949 <TT>Variable-</TT>. These headers communicate name-value pairs from the application to the Web server.
950 For instance, the response header
951 </P>
952 <PRE>
953 Variable-AUTH_METHOD: database lookup
954 </PRE>
955 transmits the value <TT>&quot;database lookup&quot;</TT> with name <TT>AUTH-METHOD</TT>. The server
956 associates such name-value pairs with the HTTP request and includes them in subsequent CGI or FastCGI
957 requests performed in processing the HTTP request. When the application gives a 200 response, the server
958 ignores response headers whose names aren&#39;t prefixed with <TT>Variable-</TT> prefix, and ignores any
959 response content.
961 For Authorizer response status values other than &quot;200&quot; (OK), the Web server denies access and
962 sends the response status, headers, and content back to the HTTP client.
963 </P>
964 <BR>
965 <BR>
966 </LI>
967 </UL>
968 <H4>
969 <A NAME="S6.4">6.4 Filter</A>
970 </H4>
972 A Filter FastCGI application receives all the information associated with an HTTP request, plus an extra
973 stream of data from a file stored on the Web server, and generates a &quot;filtered&quot; version of the data
974 stream as an HTTP response.
975 </P>
977 A Filter is similar in functionality to a Responder that takes a data file as a parameter. The difference is
978 that with a Filter, both the data file and the Filter itself can be access controlled using the Web
979 server&#39;s access control mechanisms, while a Responder that takes the name of a data file as a parameter
980 must perform its own access control checks on the data file.
981 </P>
983 The steps taken by a Filter are similar to those of a Responder. The server presents the Filter with
984 environment variables first, then standard input (normally form <TT>POST</TT> data), finally the data file
985 input:
986 </P>
987 <BR>
988 <BR>
989 <UL TYPE="square">
990 <LI>
991 Like a Responder, the Filter application receives name-value pairs from the Web server over
992 <TT>FCGI_PARAMS</TT>. Filter applications receive two Filter-specific variables:
993 <TT>FCGI_DATA_LAST_MOD</TT> and <TT>FCGI_DATA_LENGTH</TT>.
995 </P>
996 </LI>
997 <LI>
998 Next the Filter application receives CGI/1.1 <TT>stdin</TT> data from the Web server over
999 <TT>FCGI_STDIN</TT>. The application receives at most <TT>CONTENT_LENGTH</TT> bytes from this stream before
1000 receiving the end-of-stream indication. (The application receives less than <TT>CONTENT_LENGTH</TT> bytes
1001 only if the HTTP client fails to provide them, e.g. because the client crashed.)
1003 </P>
1004 </LI>
1005 <LI>
1006 Next the Filter application receives the file data from the Web server over <TT>FCGI_DATA</TT>. This
1007 file&#39;s last modification time (expressed as an integer number of seconds since the epoch January 1,
1008 1970 UTC) is <TT>FCGI_DATA_LAST_MOD</TT>; the application may consult this variable and respond from a
1009 cache without reading the file data. The application reads at most <TT>FCGI_DATA_LENGTH</TT> bytes from
1010 this stream before receiving the end-of-stream indication.
1012 </P>
1013 </LI>
1014 <LI>
1015 The Filter application sends CGI/1.1 <TT>stdout</TT> data to the Web server over <TT>FCGI_STDOUT</TT>, and
1016 CGI/1.1 <TT>stderr</TT> data over <TT>FCGI_STDERR</TT>. The application sends these concurrently, not one
1017 after the other. The application must wait to finish reading <TT>FCGI_STDIN</TT> before it begins writing
1018 <TT>FCGI_STDOUT</TT> and <TT>FCGI_STDERR</TT>, but it needn&#39;t finish reading from <TT>FCGI_DATA</TT>
1019 before it begins writing these two streams.
1021 </P>
1022 </LI>
1023 <LI>
1024 After sending all its <TT>stdout</TT> and <TT>stderr</TT> data, the application sends a
1025 <TT>FCGI_END_REQUEST</TT> record. The application sets the <TT>protocolStatus</TT> component to
1026 <TT>FCGI_REQUEST_COMPLETE</TT> and the <TT>appStatus</TT> component to the status code that a similar CGI
1027 program would have returned via the <TT>exit</TT> system call.<BR>
1028 <BR>
1029 </LI>
1030 </UL>
1032 A Filter should compare the number of bytes received on <TT>FCGI_STDIN</TT> with <TT>CONTENT_LENGTH</TT> and
1033 on <TT>FCGI_DATA</TT> with <TT>FCGI_DATA_LENGTH</TT>. If the numbers don&#39;t match and the Filter is a
1034 query, the Filter response should provide an indication that data is missing. If the numbers don&#39;t match
1035 and the Filter is an update, the Filter should abort the update.
1036 </P>
1038 </P>
1039 <H3>
1040 <A NAME="S7">7. Errors</A>
1041 </H3>
1043 A FastCGI application exits with zero status to indicate that it terminated on purpose, e.g. in order to
1044 perform a crude form of garbage collection. A FastCGI application that exits with nonzero status is assumed to
1045 have crashed. How a Web server or other application manager responds to applications that exit with zero or
1046 nonzero status is outside the scope of this specification.
1047 </P>
1049 A Web server can request that a FastCGI application exit by sending it <TT>SIGTERM</TT>. If the application
1050 ignores <TT>SIGTERM</TT> the Web server can resort to <TT>SIGKILL</TT>.
1051 </P>
1053 FastCGI applications report application-level errors with the <TT>FCGI_STDERR</TT> stream and the
1054 <TT>appStatus</TT> component of the <TT>FCGI_END_REQUEST</TT> record. In many cases an error will be reported
1055 directly to the user via the <TT>FCGI_STDOUT</TT> stream.
1056 </P>
1058 On Unix, applications report lower-level errors, including FastCGI protocol errors and syntax errors in
1059 FastCGI environment variables, to <TT>syslog</TT>. Depending upon the severity of the error, the application
1060 may either continue or exit with nonzero status.
1061 </P>
1063 </P>
1064 <H3>
1065 <A NAME="S8">8. Types and Constants</A>
1066 </H3>
1067 <PRE>
1069 * Listening socket file number
1071 #define FCGI_LISTENSOCK_FILENO 0
1073 typedef struct {
1074 unsigned char version;
1075 unsigned char type;
1076 unsigned char requestIdB1;
1077 unsigned char requestIdB0;
1078 unsigned char contentLengthB1;
1079 unsigned char contentLengthB0;
1080 unsigned char paddingLength;
1081 unsigned char reserved;
1082 } FCGI_Header;
1085 * Number of bytes in a FCGI_Header. Future versions of the protocol
1086 * will not reduce this number.
1088 #define FCGI_HEADER_LEN 8
1091 * Value for version component of FCGI_Header
1093 #define FCGI_VERSION_1 1
1096 * Values for type component of FCGI_Header
1098 #define FCGI_BEGIN_REQUEST 1
1099 #define FCGI_ABORT_REQUEST 2
1100 #define FCGI_END_REQUEST 3
1101 #define FCGI_PARAMS 4
1102 #define FCGI_STDIN 5
1103 #define FCGI_STDOUT 6
1104 #define FCGI_STDERR 7
1105 #define FCGI_DATA 8
1106 #define FCGI_GET_VALUES 9
1107 #define FCGI_GET_VALUES_RESULT 10
1108 #define FCGI_UNKNOWN_TYPE 11
1109 #define FCGI_MAXTYPE (FCGI_UNKNOWN_TYPE)
1112 * Value for requestId component of FCGI_Header
1114 #define FCGI_NULL_REQUEST_ID 0
1116 typedef struct {
1117 unsigned char roleB1;
1118 unsigned char roleB0;
1119 unsigned char flags;
1120 unsigned char reserved[5];
1121 } FCGI_BeginRequestBody;
1123 typedef struct {
1124 FCGI_Header header;
1125 FCGI_BeginRequestBody body;
1126 } FCGI_BeginRequestRecord;
1129 * Mask for flags component of FCGI_BeginRequestBody
1131 #define FCGI_KEEP_CONN 1
1134 * Values for role component of FCGI_BeginRequestBody
1136 #define FCGI_RESPONDER 1
1137 #define FCGI_AUTHORIZER 2
1138 #define FCGI_FILTER 3
1140 typedef struct {
1141 unsigned char appStatusB3;
1142 unsigned char appStatusB2;
1143 unsigned char appStatusB1;
1144 unsigned char appStatusB0;
1145 unsigned char protocolStatus;
1146 unsigned char reserved[3];
1147 } FCGI_EndRequestBody;
1149 typedef struct {
1150 FCGI_Header header;
1151 FCGI_EndRequestBody body;
1152 } FCGI_EndRequestRecord;
1155 * Values for protocolStatus component of FCGI_EndRequestBody
1157 #define FCGI_REQUEST_COMPLETE 0
1158 #define FCGI_CANT_MPX_CONN 1
1159 #define FCGI_OVERLOADED 2
1160 #define FCGI_UNKNOWN_ROLE 3
1163 * Variable names for FCGI_GET_VALUES / FCGI_GET_VALUES_RESULT records
1165 #define FCGI_MAX_CONNS &quot;FCGI_MAX_CONNS&quot;
1166 #define FCGI_MAX_REQS &quot;FCGI_MAX_REQS&quot;
1167 #define FCGI_MPXS_CONNS &quot;FCGI_MPXS_CONNS&quot;
1169 typedef struct {
1170 unsigned char type;
1171 unsigned char reserved[7];
1172 } FCGI_UnknownTypeBody;
1174 typedef struct {
1175 FCGI_Header header;
1176 FCGI_UnknownTypeBody body;
1177 } FCGI_UnknownTypeRecord;
1178 </PRE>
1180 </P>
1181 <H3>
1182 <A NAME="S9">9. References</A>
1183 </H3>
1185 National Center for Supercomputer Applications, <A HREF="http://hoohoo.ncsa.uiuc.edu/cgi/">The Common Gateway
1186 Interface</A>, version CGI/1.1.
1187 </P>
1189 D.R.T. Robinson, <A HREF="http://cgi-spec.golux.com/">The WWW
1190 Common Gateway Interface Version 1.1</A>, Internet-Draft, 15 February 1996.
1191 </P>
1193 </P>
1194 <H3>
1195 <A NAME="SA">A. Table: Properties of the record types</A>
1196 </H3>
1198 The following chart lists all of the record types and indicates these properties of each:
1199 </P>
1201 </P>
1202 <UL TYPE="square">
1203 <LI>
1204 <TT>WS-&gt;App</TT>: records of this type can only be sent by the Web server to the application. Records of
1205 other types can only be sent by the application to the Web server.
1207 </P>
1208 </LI>
1209 <LI>
1210 <TT>management</TT>: records of this type contain information that is not specific to a Web server request,
1211 and use the null request ID. Records of other types contain request-specific information, and cannot use
1212 the null request ID.
1214 </P>
1215 </LI>
1216 <LI>
1217 <TT>stream</TT>: records of this type form a stream, terminated by a record with empty
1218 <TT>contentData</TT>. Records of other types are discrete; each carries a meaningful unit of data.<BR>
1219 <BR>
1220 </LI>
1221 </UL>
1222 <PRE>
1223 WS-&gt;App management stream
1225 FCGI_GET_VALUES x x
1226 FCGI_GET_VALUES_RESULT x
1227 FCGI_UNKNOWN_TYPE x
1229 FCGI_BEGIN_REQUEST x
1230 FCGI_ABORT_REQUEST x
1231 FCGI_END_REQUEST
1232 FCGI_PARAMS x x
1233 FCGI_STDIN x x
1234 FCGI_DATA x x
1235 FCGI_STDOUT x
1236 FCGI_STDERR x
1239 </PRE>
1241 </P>
1242 <H3>
1243 <A NAME="SB">B. Typical Protocol Message Flow</A>
1244 </H3>
1246 Additional notational conventions for the examples:
1247 </P>
1248 <UL>
1249 <LI>
1250 The <TT>contentData</TT> of stream records (<TT>FCGI_PARAMS</TT>, <TT>FCGI_STDIN</TT>,
1251 <TT>FCGI_STDOUT</TT>, and <TT>FCGI_STDERR</TT>) is represented as a character string. A string ending in
1252 <TT>&quot; ... &quot;</TT> is too long to display, so only a prefix is shown.
1253 </LI>
1254 <LI>
1255 Messages sent to the Web server are indented with respect to messages received from the Web server.
1256 </LI>
1257 <LI>
1258 Messages are shown in the time sequence experienced by the application.
1259 </LI>
1260 </UL>
1262 1. A simple request with no data on <TT>stdin</TT>, and a successful response:
1263 </P>
1264 <PRE>
1265 {FCGI_BEGIN_REQUEST, 1, {FCGI_RESPONDER, 0}}
1266 {FCGI_PARAMS, 1, &quot;\013\002SERVER_PORT80\013\016SERVER_ADDR199.170.183.42 ... &quot;}
1267 {FCGI_PARAMS, 1, &quot;&quot;}
1268 {FCGI_STDIN, 1, &quot;&quot;}
1270 {FCGI_STDOUT, 1, &quot;Content-type: text/html\r\n\r\n&lt;html&gt;\n&lt;head&gt; ... &quot;}
1271 {FCGI_STDOUT, 1, &quot;&quot;}
1272 {FCGI_END_REQUEST, 1, {0, FCGI_REQUEST_COMPLETE}}
1273 </PRE>
1275 2. Similar to example 1, but this time with data on <TT>stdin</TT>. The Web server chooses to send the
1276 parameters using more <TT>FCGI_PARAMS</TT> records than before:
1277 </P>
1278 <PRE>
1279 {FCGI_BEGIN_REQUEST, 1, {FCGI_RESPONDER, 0}}
1280 {FCGI_PARAMS, 1, &quot;\013\002SERVER_PORT80\013\016SER&quot;}
1281 {FCGI_PARAMS, 1, &quot;VER_ADDR199.170.183.42 ... &quot;}
1282 {FCGI_PARAMS, 1, &quot;&quot;}
1283 {FCGI_STDIN, 1, &quot;quantity=100&amp;item=3047936&quot;}
1284 {FCGI_STDIN, 1, &quot;&quot;}
1286 {FCGI_STDOUT, 1, &quot;Content-type: text/html\r\n\r\n&lt;html&gt;\n&lt;head&gt; ... &quot;}
1287 {FCGI_STDOUT, 1, &quot;&quot;}
1288 {FCGI_END_REQUEST, 1, {0, FCGI_REQUEST_COMPLETE}}
1289 </PRE>
1291 3. Similar to example 1, but this time the application detects an error. The application logs a message to
1292 <TT>stderr</TT>, returns a page to the client, and returns non-zero exit status to the Web server. The
1293 application chooses to send the page using more <TT>FCGI_STDOUT</TT> records:
1294 </P>
1295 <PRE>
1296 {FCGI_BEGIN_REQUEST, 1, {FCGI_RESPONDER, 0}}
1297 {FCGI_PARAMS, 1, &quot;\013\002SERVER_PORT80\013\016SERVER_ADDR199.170.183.42 ... &quot;}
1298 {FCGI_PARAMS, 1, &quot;&quot;}
1299 {FCGI_STDIN, 1, &quot;&quot;}
1301 {FCGI_STDOUT, 1, &quot;Content-type: text/html\r\n\r\n&lt;ht&quot;}
1302 {FCGI_STDERR, 1, &quot;config error: missing SI_UID\n&quot;}
1303 {FCGI_STDOUT, 1, &quot;ml&gt;\n&lt;head&gt; ... &quot;}
1304 {FCGI_STDOUT, 1, &quot;&quot;}
1305 {FCGI_STDERR, 1, &quot;&quot;}
1306 {FCGI_END_REQUEST, 1, {938, FCGI_REQUEST_COMPLETE}}
1307 </PRE>
1309 4. Two instances of example 1, multiplexed onto a single connection. The first request is more difficult than
1310 the second, so the application finishes the requests out of order:
1311 </P>
1312 <PRE>
1313 {FCGI_BEGIN_REQUEST, 1, {FCGI_RESPONDER, FCGI_KEEP_CONN}}
1314 {FCGI_PARAMS, 1, &quot;\013\002SERVER_PORT80\013\016SERVER_ADDR199.170.183.42 ... &quot;}
1315 {FCGI_PARAMS, 1, &quot;&quot;}
1316 {FCGI_BEGIN_REQUEST, 2, {FCGI_RESPONDER, FCGI_KEEP_CONN}}
1317 {FCGI_PARAMS, 2, &quot;\013\002SERVER_PORT80\013\016SERVER_ADDR199.170.183.42 ... &quot;}
1318 {FCGI_STDIN, 1, &quot;&quot;}
1320 {FCGI_STDOUT, 1, &quot;Content-type: text/html\r\n\r\n&quot;}
1322 {FCGI_PARAMS, 2, &quot;&quot;}
1323 {FCGI_STDIN, 2, &quot;&quot;}
1325 {FCGI_STDOUT, 2, &quot;Content-type: text/html\r\n\r\n&lt;html&gt;\n&lt;head&gt; ... &quot;}
1326 {FCGI_STDOUT, 2, &quot;&quot;}
1327 {FCGI_END_REQUEST, 2, {0, FCGI_REQUEST_COMPLETE}}
1328 {FCGI_STDOUT, 1, &quot;&lt;html&gt;\n&lt;head&gt; ... &quot;}
1329 {FCGI_STDOUT, 1, &quot;&quot;}
1330 {FCGI_END_REQUEST, 1, {0, FCGI_REQUEST_COMPLETE}}
1331 </PRE>
1333 </P>
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