django/docs/middleware.txt

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==========
Middleware
==========
Middleware is a framework of hooks into Django's request/response processing.
It's a light, low-level "plugin" system for globally altering Django's input
and/or output.
Each middleware component is responsible for doing some specific function. For
example, Django includes a middleware component, ``XViewMiddleware``, that adds
an ``"X-View"`` HTTP header to every response to a ``HEAD`` request.
This document explains all middleware components that come with Django, how to
use them, and how to write your own middleware.
Activating middleware
=====================
To activate a middleware component, add it to the ``MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES`` list
in your Django settings. In ``MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES``, each middleware component
is represented by a string: the full Python path to the middleware's class
name. For example, here's the default ``MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES`` created by
``django-admin.py startproject``::
MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
"django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware",
"django.middleware.doc.XViewMiddleware",
)
The default admin site has the following ``MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES`` set::
MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
"django.middleware.sessions.SessionMiddleware",
"django.middleware.admin.AdminUserRequired",
"django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware",
)
Django applies middleware in the order it's defined in ``MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES``.
For a regular (i.e., non-admin) Django installation, no middleware is required,
but it's strongly suggested that you use ``CommonMiddleware``. For a Django
admin site, ``SessionMiddleware`` and ``AdminUserRequired`` (in that order) are
required.
Available middleware
====================
django.middleware.admin.AdminUserRequired
-----------------------------------------
Limits site access to valid users with the ``is_staff`` flag set. This is
required by Django's admin, and this middleware requires ``SessionMiddleware``.
django.middleware.cache.CacheMiddleware
---------------------------------------
Enables site-wide cache. If this is enabled, each Django-powered page will be
cached for as long as the ``CACHE_MIDDLEWARE_SECONDS`` setting defines. See
the `cache documentation`_.
.. _`cache documentation`: http://www.djangoproject.com/documentation/cache/#the-per-site-cache
django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware
-----------------------------------------
Adds a few conveniences for perfectionists:
* Forbids access to user agents in the ``DISALLOWED_USER_AGENTS`` setting,
which should be a list of strings.
* Performs URL rewriting based on the ``APPEND_SLASH`` and ``PREPEND_WWW``
settings. If ``APPEND_SLASH`` is ``True``, URLs that lack a trailing
slash will be redirected to the same URL with a trailing slash. If
``PREPEND_WWW`` is ``True``, URLs that lack a leading "www." will be
redirected to the same URL with a leading "www."
Both of these options are meant to normalize URLs. The philosophy is that
each URL should exist in one, and only one, place. Technically a URL
``foo.com/bar`` is distinct from ``foo.com/bar/`` -- a search-engine
indexer would treat them as separate URLs -- so it's best practice to
normalize URLs.
* Handles ETags based on the ``USE_ETAGS`` setting. If ``USE_ETAGS`` is set
to ``True``, Django will calculate an ETag for each request by
MD5-hashing the page content, and it'll take care of sending
``Not Modified`` responses, if appropriate.
* Handles flat pages. Every time Django encounters a 404 -- either within
a view or as a result of no URLconfs matching -- it will check the
database of flat pages based on the current URL.
django.middleware.doc.XViewMiddleware
-------------------------------------
Sends custom ``X-View`` HTTP headers to HEAD requests that come from IP
addresses defined in the ``INTERNAL_IPS`` setting. This is used by Django's
automatic documentation system.
django.middleware.gzip.GZipMiddleware
-------------------------------------
Compresses content for browsers that understand gzip compression (all modern
browsers).
django.middleware.http.ConditionalGetMiddleware
-----------------------------------------------
Handles conditional GET operations. If the response has a ``ETag`` or
``Last-Modified`` header, and the request has ``If-None-Match`` or
``If-Modified-Since``, the response is replaced by an HttpNotModified.
Also removes the content from any response to a HEAD request and sets the
``Date`` and ``Content-Length`` response-headers.
django.middleware.sessions.SessionMiddleware
--------------------------------------------
Enables session support. See the `session documentation`_.
.. _`session documentation`: http://www.djangoproject.com/documentation/sessions/
Writing your own middleware
===========================
Writing your own middleware is easy. Each middleware component is a single
Python class that defines one or more of the following methods:
process_request
---------------
Interface: ``process_request(self, request)``
``request`` is an ``HttpRequest`` object. This method is called on each
request, before Django decides which view to execute.
``process_request()`` should return either ``None`` or an ``HttpResponse``
object. If it returns ``None``, Django will continue processing this request,
executing any other middleware and, then, the appropriate view. If it returns
an ``HttpResponse`` object, Django won't bother calling ANY other middleware or
the appropriate view; it'll return that ``HttpResponse``.
process_view
------------
Interface: ``process_view(self, request, view_func, param_dict)``
``request`` is an ``HttpRequest`` object. ``view_func`` is the Python function
that Django is about to use. (It's the actual function object, not the name of
the function as a string.) ``param_dict`` is a dictionary of keyword arguments
that will be passed to the view -- NOT including the first argument (``request``).
``process_view()`` is called just before Django calls the view. It should
return either ``None`` or an ``HttpResponse`` object. If it returns ``None``,
Django will continue processing this request, executing any other
``process_view()`` middleware and, then, the appropriate view. If it returns an
``HttpResponse`` object, Django won't bother calling ANY other middleware or
the appropriate view; it'll return that ``HttpResponse``.
process_response
----------------
Interface: ``process_response(self, request, response)``
``request`` is an ``HttpRequest`` object. ``response`` is the ``HttpResponse``
object returned by a Django view.
``process_response()`` should return an ``HttpResponse`` object. It could alter
the given ``response``, or it could create and return a brand-new
``HttpResponse``.
process_exception
-----------------
Interface: ``process_exception(self, request, exception)``
``request`` is an ``HttpRequest`` object. ``exception`` is an ``Exception``
object raised by the view function.
Django calls ``process_exception()`` when a view raises an exception.
``process_exception()`` should return either ``None`` or an ``HttpResponse``
object. If it returns an ``HttpResponse`` object, the response will be returned
to the browser. Otherwise, default exception handling kicks in.
Guidelines
----------
* Middleware classes don't have to subclass anything.
* The middleware class can live anywhere on your Python path. All Django
cares about is that the ``MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES`` setting includes the path
to it.
* Feel free to look at Django's available middleware for examples. The
default Django middleware classes are in ``django/middleware/`` in the
Django distribution.
* If you write a middleware component that you think would be useful to
other people, contribute to the community! Let us know, and we'll
consider adding it to Django.