【SVNBook学习笔记】WebDAV之Window Web文件夹历史

  作者:zhanhailiang 日期:2012-12-8

详情请见SVNbook附录C.3.2.1. Microsoft Web 文件夹

Microsoft was one of the original backers of the WebDAV specification, and first started shipping a client in Windows 98, which was known as Web Folders. This client was also shipped in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows2000.The original Web Folders client was an extension to Explorer, the main GUI program used to browse filesystems. It works well enough. In Windows98, the feature might need to be explicitly installed if Web Folders aren't already visible inside My Computer. In Windows 2000, simply adda new “network place,” enter the URL, and the WebDAV share will pop up for browsing.With the release of Windows XP, Microsoft started shipping a new implementation of Web Folders, known as the WebDAV Mini-Redirector. Thenew implementation is a filesystem-level client, allowing、WebDAV sharesto be mounted as drive letters. Unfortunately, this implementation is incredibly buggy. The client usually tries to convert HTTP URLs (http://host/repos) into UNC share notation(\\host\repos); it also oftentries to use Windows Domain authentication to respond to basic-auth HTTPchallenges, sending usernames as HOST\username. These interoperability problems are severe and are documented in numerous places around the Web, to the frustration of many users. Even Greg Stein, the original author ofApache's WebDAV module, bluntly states that XP Web Folders simply can't operate against an Apache server.Windows Vista's initial implementation of Web Folders seems to be almostthe same as XP's, so it has the same sort of problems. With luck, Microsoftwill remedy these issues in a Vista Service Pack. However, there seem to be workarounds for both XP and Vista that allow Web Folders to work againstApache. Users have mostly reported success with these techniques, so we'll relay them here.On Windows XP, you have two options. First, search Microsoft's web site for update KB90730, “Software Update for Web Folders.” This may fix all your problems. If it doesn't, it seems that the original pre-XP Web Folders implementation is still buried within the system. You can unearth it bygoing to Network Places and adding a new network place. When prompted, enterthe URL of the repository, but include a port number in the URL. For example,you should enter http://host/repos as http://host:80/repos instead. Respond to any authentication prompts with your Subversion credentials.On Windows Vista, the same KB90730 update may clear everything up. But theremay still be other issues. Some users have reported that Vista considers allhttp:// connections insecure, and thus will always fail any authentication challenges from Apache unless the connection happens over https://. If you'reunable to connect to the Subversion repository via SSL, you can tweak the system registry to turn off this behavior. Just change the valueof the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WebClient\Parameters\BasicAuthLevel key from 1 to 2. A final warning: be sure to set upthe Web Folder to point to the repository's root directory (/), rather than some subdirectory such as /trunk. Vista Web Folders seems to work only againstrepository roots.In general, while these workarounds may function for you, you might get a betteroverall experience using a third-party WebDAV client such as WebDrive or NetDrive.