server-parsed HTML

file format, World-Wide Web (SPML, SHTML) A kind of HTML

file containing server-specific, non-standard commands which

are interpreted by the HTTP server and replaced by standard

HTML or text before the data is returned to the client.

Different servers use different command syntax and support

different sets of commands. The most common example is a

server-side include command which simply expands to the

contents of some given file and allows bits of HTML or text to

be shared between pages for ease of updating. Other commands

insert the value of an environment variable or the output of

a shell command. These allow pages to be different each

time they are served without requiring a CGI script.

Some servers distinguish SPML from HTML with a different

filename extension, others use the execute bit of the file's

permissions.

(1996-09-29)