Using a Custom 404 error script in IIS makes it possible to emulate a very basic URL rewrite.
Sample Environment
- IIS 6
- Website domain: "www.me.com"
- URLRewrite directory: "code"
Steps
1. Create a file named rewrite.asp in the code directory.
2. Add a Custom Error for the 404 Not Found. Open up IIS -> Right click Website -> Properties -> Custom Errors -> 404,URL,"/code/rewrite.asp" or you can do it programatically:
Add custom 404 for a specific directory in a specific website.
<%
on error resume next
myDomain = "www.me.com"
myrewritedir = "code"
Set objW3SVC = GetObject("IIS://localhost/W3SVC")
For Each objSITE in objW3SVC
If objSITE.class = "IIsWebServer" Then
websiteNameArr = objSITE.ServerBindings
for j = 0 to Ubound(websiteNameArr)
websiteName = websiteNameArr(j)
If instr(websiteName,myDomain) > 0 then
Set objIISNewDir = GetObject("IIS://localhost/W3SVC/" & objSite.Name & "/root")
Set CodeDir = objIISNewDir.Create("IIsWebDirectory",myrewritedir )
CodeDir.SetInfo
Set objIISNewDir = Nothing
Set objIISRewriteRootDir = GetObject("IIS://localhost/W3SVC/" & objSite.Name & "/root/" & myrewritedir)
CustomErrors = objIISRewriteRootDir.HttpErrors
For i = 0 To UBound(CustomErrors)
If Left(CustomErrors(i),3) = "404" then
CustomErrors(i) = "404,*,URL,/" & myrewritedir & "/rewrite.asp"
objIISRewriteRootDir.HttpErrors = CustomErrors
objIISRewriteRootDir.SetInfo
Exit For
End If
Next
Set objIISRewriteRootDir = Nothing
End if
Next
End if
Next
%>
3. Copy and paste the following code into rewrite.asp
Rewrite Code
<%
'In IIS, 404 pages that are directed to an URL have the "error" URL attached in the query string.
'It looks something like this 404;http://www.me.com:80/code/nosuchfileblahblah1.asp
'We're gonna use it.. so grab it.
script = request.servervariables("QUERY_STRING")
if instr(script,"/") > 1 then
myArray = split(script,"/")
if instr(myArray(Ubound(myArray)),".asp") = 0 then
myID = myArray(Ubound(myArray)) 'This is the method for obtaining the ID if you end your URL in the ID. Example: http://www.me.com/code/this-is-good-code/1
else
myID = replace(myArray(Ubound(myArray)),".asp","") 'This is the method for obtaining the ID if you end your URL in a fake extension. Example: http://www.me.com/code/this-is-good-code/1.asp
end if
end if
'Now that you've extracted your code ID, just go about your business, you are done!
'Here's some sample code
if isNumeric(myID) then 'Make sure it's an ID and not some malicious code
response.write "The ID Extracted from the URL is: " & myID
else
response.redirect "http://www.me.com"
end if
%>
4. Call your tricked out webpage URI.
I installed a sample of this script @ netnerds.net. Click on the following URL to see the results: netnerds.net/code/example-in-the-house/1. You can also look around RealCajunRecipes.com. I use that code (heavily modified) in the recipes directory to make SEO friendly URLs. Woo!