How to Enable Client Pull for Web Servers, Sites, and Folders

ID: Q240774

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0
Microsoft Internet Information Services version 5.0

SUMMARY

Client pull can be used to periodically force an Internet browser to reload a page automatically. Usually, this is accomplished on a page-by-page basis for a Web site using HTML. This article explains how to enable default Client Pull settings through the IIS user interface for an entire Web site, a specific Web server, or a Web folder.

MORE INFORMATION

Client pull can be used to prevent browsers from viewing data that may be out of date, especially on sites where information is updated often. Client pull is implemented through the HTTP header REFRESH, and can be used to redirect to another page.

Using HTML code, client pull is enabled for a specific page when you add a line similar to the following in the HEAD section:

To auto-load the same page:
```
<META HTTP-EQUIV="REFRESH" CONTENT="30"> 
```
Where CONTENT is the number of seconds before the page will auto-refresh.

To auto-load a different page:
```
<META HTTP-EQUIV="REFRESH" CONTENT="30; URL=http://server/page.htm"> 
```
Where CONTENT is the number of seconds before the page will auto-refresh and URL specifies the page that will be loaded when the refresh interval has been reached.

The client pull functionality can be enabled through the IIS configuration. Therefore, you can implement client pull without adding HTML code. This returns the client pull values as part of the HTTP headers, as in the following example:


HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Server: Microsoft-IIS/5.0
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 21:00:00 GMT
REFRESH: 5
Connection: Keep-Alive
Content-Length: 1270
Content-Type: text/html
Cache-control: private

......

Use the following examples to enable the default Client Pull settings in the Internet Service Manager (ISM) snap-in for the Microsoft Management Console (MMC).

To enable client pull for an entire Web server:

In the ISM, right-click the appropriate computer name and select Properties.

Click Edit to edit the Master WWW properties.

Click the HTTP Headers tab.

Click Add in the Custom HTTP Headers section.

Enter REFRESH in the Custom Header Name section.

Enter the number of seconds in the Custom Header Value section.

Click OK until you return to the MMC.

To enable client pull for a specific Web site:

In the ISM, expand the tree to view all Web sites.

Right-click the desired Web site and select Properties.

Click the HTTP Headers tab.

Click Add in the Custom HTTP Headers section.

Enter REFRESH in the Custom Header Name section.

Enter the number of seconds in the Custom Header Value section.

Click OK until you return to the MMC.

To enable client pull for a single folder:

In the ISM, expand the tree to view all Web sites

Select the correct Web site and navigate the tree until you find the folder you want to change.

Right-click the desired folder and select Properties.

Click the HTTP Headers tab.

Click Add in the Custom HTTP Headers section.

Enter REFRESH in the Custom Header Name section.

Enter the number of seconds in the Custom Header Value section.

Click OK until you return to the MMC.

In each of these examples, you can use the syntax for the Custom Header Value section of "seconds;URL=path" to specify a different page to redirect to.

Possible Uses for Client Pull:

Enabling a page for a Web site that a browser redirects to when an ASP session has expired

Forcing a browser to redirect to the default Web page in a folder after a few minutes

For additional information on this topic, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q170206 How to Use Client Pull in FrontPage Web Documents

Additional query words: iis

Keywords :
Version : winnt:4.0,5.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbinfo