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><DIV
CLASS="SECT1"
><H1
CLASS="SECT1"
><A
NAME="ACTIONS-FILE"
></A
>8. Actions Files</H1
><P
> The actions files are used to define what actions
<SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> takes for which URLs, and thus determine
how ad images, cookies and various other aspects of HTTP content and
transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts thereof). There
are three such files included with <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> (as of
version 2.9.15), with differing purposes:
</P
><P
> <P
></P
><UL
><LI
><P
> <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>default.action</TT
> - is the primary action file
that sets the initial values for all actions. It is intended to
provide a base level of functionality for
<SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy's</SPAN
> array of features. So it is
a set of broad rules that should work reasonably well for users everywhere.
This is the file that the developers are keeping updated, and <A
HREF="installation.html#INSTALLATION-KEEPUPDATED"
>making available to users</A
>.
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>user.action</TT
> - is intended to be for local site
preferences and exceptions. As an example, if your ISP or your bank
has specific requirements, and need special handling, this kind of
thing should go here. This file will not be upgraded.
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>standard.action</TT
> - is used by the web based editor,
to set various pre-defined sets of rules for the default actions section
in <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>default.action</TT
>. These have increasing levels of
aggressiveness <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>and have no influence on your browsing unless
you select them explicitly in the editor</I
></SPAN
>. It is not recommend
to edit this file.
</P
></LI
></UL
>
</P
><P
> The list of actions files to be used are defined in the main configuration
file, and are processed in the order they are defined. The content of these
can all be viewed and edited from <A
HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
TARGET="_top"
>http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</A
>.</P
><P
> An actions file typically has multiple sections. If you want to use
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"aliases"</SPAN
> in an actions file, you have to place the (optional)
<A
HREF="actions-file.html#ALIASES"
>alias section</A
> at the top of that file.
Then comes the default set of rules which will apply universally to all
sites and pages (be <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>very careful</I
></SPAN
> with using such a
universal set in <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>user.action</TT
> or any other actions file after
<TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>default.action</TT
>, because it will override the result
from consulting any previous file). And then below that,
exceptions to the defined universal policies. You can regard
<TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>user.action</TT
> as an appendix to <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>default.action</TT
>,
with the advantage that is a separate file, which makes preserving your
personal settings across <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> upgrades easier.</P
><P
>
Actions can be used to block anything you want, including ads, banners, or
just some obnoxious URL that you would rather not see. Cookies can be accepted
or rejected, or accepted only during the current browser session (i.e. not
written to disk), content can be modified, JavaScripts tamed, user-tracking
fooled, and much more. See below for a <A
HREF="actions-file.html#ACTIONS"
>complete list
of actions</A
>.</P
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="AEN1640"
></A
>8.1. Finding the Right Mix</H2
><P
> Note that some <A
HREF="actions-file.html#ACTIONS"
>actions</A
>, like cookie suppression
or script disabling, may render some sites unusable that rely on these
techniques to work properly. Finding the right mix of actions is not always easy and
certainly a matter of personal taste. In general, it can be said that the more
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"aggressive"</SPAN
> your default settings (in the top section of the
actions file) are, the more exceptions for <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"trusted"</SPAN
> sites you
will have to make later. If, for example, you want to kill popup windows per
default, you'll have to make exceptions from that rule for sites that you
regularly use and that require popups for actually useful content, like maybe
your bank, favorite shop, or newspaper.</P
><P
> We have tried to provide you with reasonable rules to start from in the
distribution actions files. But there is no general rule of thumb on these
things. There just are too many variables, and sites are constantly changing.
Sooner or later you will want to change the rules (and read this chapter again :).</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="AEN1647"
></A
>8.2. How to Edit</H2
><P
> The easiest way to edit the actions files is with a browser by
using our browser-based editor, which can be reached from <A
HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
TARGET="_top"
>http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</A
>.
The editor allows both fine-grained control over every single feature on a
per-URL basis, and easy choosing from wholesale sets of defaults like
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"Cautious"</SPAN
>, <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"Medium"</SPAN
> or <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"Advanced"</SPAN
>.</P
><P
> If you prefer plain text editing to GUIs, you can of course also directly edit the
the actions files. Look at <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>default.action</TT
> which is richly
commented.</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="ACTIONS-APPLY"
></A
>8.3. How Actions are Applied to URLs</H2
><P
> Actions files are divided into sections. There are special sections,
like the <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"<A
HREF="actions-file.html#ALIASES"
>alias</A
>"</SPAN
> sections which will
be discussed later. For now let's concentrate on regular sections: They have a
heading line (often split up to multiple lines for readability) which consist
of a list of actions, separated by whitespace and enclosed in curly braces.
Below that, there is a list of URL patterns, each on a separate line.</P
><P
> To determine which actions apply to a request, the URL of the request is
compared to all patterns in each action file file. Every time it matches, the list of
applicable actions for the URL is incrementally updated, using the heading
of the section in which the pattern is located. If multiple matches for
the same URL set the same action differently, the last match wins. If not,
the effects are aggregated. E.g. a URL might match a regular section with
a heading line of <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>{
+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
>handle-as-image</A
> }</TT
>,
then later another one with just <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>{
+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
>block</A
> }</TT
>, resulting
in <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>both</I
></SPAN
> actions to apply.</P
><P
> You can trace this process for any given URL by visiting <A
HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info"
TARGET="_top"
>http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</A
>.</P
><P
> More detail on this is provided in the Appendix, <A
HREF="appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT"
> Anatomy of an Action</A
>.</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="AF-PATTERNS"
></A
>8.4. Patterns</H2
><P
> Generally, a pattern has the form <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><domain>/<path></TT
>,
where both the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><domain></TT
> and <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><path></TT
>
are optional. (This is why the pattern <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>/</TT
> matches all URLs).</P
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
><TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>www.example.com/</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
> is a domain-only pattern and will match any request to <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>www.example.com</TT
>,
regardless of which document on that server is requested.
</P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>www.example.com</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
> means exactly the same. For domain-only patterns, the trailing <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>/</TT
> may
be omitted.
</P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>www.example.com/index.html</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
> matches only the single document <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>/index.html</TT
>
on <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>www.example.com</TT
>.
</P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>/index.html</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
> matches the document <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>/index.html</TT
>, regardless of the domain,
i.e. on <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>any</I
></SPAN
> web server.
</P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>index.html</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
> matches nothing, since it would be interpreted as a domain name and
there is no top-level domain called <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>.html</TT
>.
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H3
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="AEN1711"
></A
>8.4.1. The Domain Pattern</H3
><P
> The matching of the domain part offers some flexible options: if the
domain starts or ends with a dot, it becomes unanchored at that end.
For example:</P
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
><TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>.example.com</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
> matches any domain that <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>ENDS</I
></SPAN
> in
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>.example.com</TT
>
</P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>www.</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
> matches any domain that <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>STARTS</I
></SPAN
> with
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>www.</TT
>
</P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>.example.</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
> matches any domain that <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>CONTAINS</I
></SPAN
> <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>.example.</TT
>
(Correctly speaking: It matches any FQDN that contains <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>example</TT
> as a domain.)
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
><P
> Additionally, there are wild-cards that you can use in the domain names
themselves. They work pretty similar to shell wild-cards: <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"*"</SPAN
>
stands for zero or more arbitrary characters, <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"?"</SPAN
> stands for
any single character, you can define character classes in square
brackets and all of that can be freely mixed:</P
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
><TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>ad*.example.com</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
> matches <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"adserver.example.com"</SPAN
>,
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"ads.example.com"</SPAN
>, etc but not <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"sfads.example.com"</SPAN
>
</P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>*ad*.example.com</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
> matches all of the above, and then some.
</P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>.?pix.com</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
> matches <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>www.ipix.com</TT
>,
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>pictures.epix.com</TT
>, <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>a.b.c.d.e.upix.com</TT
> etc.
</P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>www[1-9a-ez].example.c*</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
> matches <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>www1.example.com</TT
>,
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>www4.example.cc</TT
>, <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>wwwd.example.cy</TT
>,
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>wwwz.example.com</TT
> etc., but <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>not</I
></SPAN
>
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>wwww.example.com</TT
>.
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H3
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="AEN1773"
></A
>8.4.2. The Path Pattern</H3
><P
> <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> uses Perl compatible regular expressions
(through the <A
HREF="http://www.pcre.org/"
TARGET="_top"
>PCRE</A
> library) for
matching the path.</P
><P
> There is an <A
HREF="appendix.html#REGEX"
>Appendix</A
> with a brief quick-start into regular
expressions, and full (very technical) documentation on PCRE regex syntax is available on-line
at <A
HREF="http://www.pcre.org/man.txt"
TARGET="_top"
>http://www.pcre.org/man.txt</A
>.
You might also find the Perl man page on regular expressions (<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>man perlre</TT
>)
useful, which is available on-line at <A
HREF="http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html"
TARGET="_top"
>http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html</A
>.</P
><P
> Note that the path pattern is automatically left-anchored at the <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"/"</SPAN
>,
i.e. it matches as if it would start with a <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"^"</SPAN
> (regular expression speak
for the beginning of a line).</P
><P
> Please also note that matching in the path is <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>CASE INSENSITIVE</I
></SPAN
>
by default, but you can switch to case sensitive at any point in the pattern by using the
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"(?-i)"</SPAN
> switch: <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>www.example.com/(?-i)PaTtErN.*</TT
> will match
only documents whose path starts with <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>PaTtErN</TT
> in
<SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>exactly</I
></SPAN
> this capitalization.</P
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="ACTIONS"
></A
>8.5. Actions</H2
><P
> All actions are disabled by default, until they are explicitly enabled
somewhere in an actions file. Actions are turned on if preceded with a
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"+"</SPAN
>, and turned off if preceded with a <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"-"</SPAN
>. So a
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>+action</TT
> means <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"do that action"</SPAN
>, e.g.
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>+block</TT
> means <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"please block URLs that match the
following patterns"</SPAN
>, and <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>-block</TT
> means <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"don't
block URLs that match the following patterns, even if <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>+block</TT
>
previously applied."</SPAN
> </P
><P
>
Again, actions are invoked by placing them on a line, enclosed in curly braces and
separated by whitespace, like in
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>{+some-action -some-other-action{some-parameter}}</TT
>,
followed by a list of URL patterns, one per line, to which they apply.
Together, the actions line and the following pattern lines make up a section
of the actions file. </P
><P
>
There are three classes of actions:</P
><P
> <P
></P
><UL
><LI
><P
>
Boolean, i.e the action can only be <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"enabled"</SPAN
> or
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"disabled"</SPAN
>. Syntax:
</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
> +<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>name</I
></TT
> # enable action <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>name</I
></TT
>
-<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>name</I
></TT
> # disable action <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>name</I
></TT
></PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
>
Example: <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>+block</TT
>
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>
Parameterized, where some value is required in order to enable this type of action.
Syntax:
</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
> +<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>name</I
></TT
>{<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>param</I
></TT
>} # enable action and set parameter to <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>param</I
></TT
>,
# overwriting parameter from previous match if necessary
-<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>name</I
></TT
> # disable action. The parameter can be omitted</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
> Note that if the URL matches multiple positive forms of a parameterized action,
the last match wins, i.e. the params from earlier matches are simply ignored.
</P
><P
>
Example: <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>+hide-user-agent{ Mozilla 1.0 }</TT
>
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>
Multi-value. These look exactly like parameterized actions,
but they behave differently: If the action applies multiple times to the
same URL, but with different parameters, <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>all</I
></SPAN
> the parameters
from <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>all</I
></SPAN
> matches are remembered. This is used for actions
that can be executed for the same request repeatedly, like adding multiple
headers, or filtering through multiple filters. Syntax:
</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
> +<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>name</I
></TT
>{<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>param</I
></TT
>} # enable action and add <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>param</I
></TT
> to the list of parameters
-<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>name</I
></TT
>{<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>param</I
></TT
>} # remove the parameter <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>param</I
></TT
> from the list of parameters
# If it was the last one left, disable the action.
<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>-name</I
></TT
> # disable this action completely and remove all parameters from the list</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
>
Examples: <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>+add-header{X-Fun-Header: Some text}</TT
> and
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>+filter{html-annoyances}</TT
>
</P
></LI
></UL
></P
><P
> If nothing is specified in any actions file, no <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"actions"</SPAN
> are
taken. So in this case <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> would just be a
normal, non-blocking, non-anonymizing proxy. You must specifically enable the
privacy and blocking features you need (although the provided default actions
files will give a good starting point).</P
><P
> Later defined actions always over-ride earlier ones. So exceptions
to any rules you make, should come in the latter part of the file (or
in a file that is processed later when using multiple actions files). For
multi-valued actions, the actions are applied in the order they are specified.
Actions files are processed in the order they are defined in
<TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>config</TT
> (the default installation has three actions
files). It also quite possible for any given URL pattern to match more than
one pattern and thus more than one set of actions!</P
><P
> The list of valid <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> actions are:</P
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="ADD-HEADER"
></A
>8.5.1. add-header</H4
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
>Confuse log analysis, custom applications</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> Sends a user defined HTTP header to the web server.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Multi-value.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
> Any string value is possible. Validity of the defined HTTP headers is not checked.
It is recommended that you use the <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>X-</TT
>"</SPAN
> prefix
for custom headers.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><P
> This action may be specified multiple times, in order to define multiple
headers. This is rarely needed for the typical user. If you don't know what
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"HTTP headers"</SPAN
> are, you definitely don't need to worry about this
one.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usage:</DT
><DD
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+add-header{X-User-Tracking: sucks}</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="BLOCK"
></A
>8.5.2. block</H4
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
>Block ads or other obnoxious content</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> Requests for URLs to which this action applies are blocked, i.e. the requests are not
forwarded to the remote server, but answered locally with a substitute page or image,
as determined by the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
>handle-as-image</A
></TT
>
and <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
>set-image-blocker</A
></TT
> actions.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Boolean.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
>N/A</P
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><P
> <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> sends a special <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"BLOCKED"</SPAN
> page
for requests to blocked pages. This page contains links to find out why the request
was blocked, and a click-through to the blocked content (the latter only if compiled with the
force feature enabled). The <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"BLOCKED"</SPAN
> page adapts to the available
screen space -- it displays full-blown if space allows, or miniaturized and text-only
if loaded into a small frame or window. If you are using <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
>
right now, you can take a look at the
<A
HREF="http://ads.bannerserver.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.html"
TARGET="_top"
><SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"BLOCKED"</SPAN
>
page</A
>.
</P
><P
>
A very important exception occurs if <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>both</I
></SPAN
>
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>block</TT
> and <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
>handle-as-image</A
></TT
>,
apply to the same request: it will then be replaced by an image. If
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
>set-image-blocker</A
></TT
>
(see below) also applies, the type of image will be determined by its parameter,
if not, the standard checkerboard pattern is sent.
</P
><P
> It is important to understand this process, in order
to understand how <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> deals with
ads and other unwanted content.
</P
><P
> The <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
>filter</A
></TT
>
action can perform a very similar task, by <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"blocking"</SPAN
>
banner images and other content through rewriting the relevant URLs in the
document's HTML source, so they don't get requested in the first place.
Note that this is a totally different technique, and it's easy to confuse the two.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usage (section):</DT
><DD
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>{+block} # Block and replace with "blocked" page
.nasty-stuff.example.com
{+block +handle-as-image} # Block and replace with image
.ad.doubleclick.net
.ads.r.us</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES"
></A
>8.5.3. crunch-incoming-cookies</H4
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
> Prevent the web server from setting any cookies on your system
</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> Deletes any <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"Set-Cookie:"</SPAN
> HTTP headers from server replies.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Boolean.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
> N/A
</P
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><P
> This action is only concerned with <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>incoming</I
></SPAN
> cookies. For
<SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>outgoing</I
></SPAN
> cookies, use
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES"
>crunch-outgoing-cookies</A
></TT
>.
Use <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>both</I
></SPAN
> to disable cookies completely.
</P
><P
> It makes <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>no sense at all</I
></SPAN
> to use this action in conjunction
with the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"
>session-cookies-only</A
></TT
> action,
since it would prevent the session cookies from being set.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usage:</DT
><DD
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+crunch-incoming-cookies</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES"
></A
>8.5.4. crunch-outgoing-cookies</H4
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
> Prevent the web server from reading any cookies from your system
</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> Deletes any <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"Cookie:"</SPAN
> HTTP headers from client requests.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Boolean.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
> N/A
</P
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><P
> This action is only concerned with <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>outgoing</I
></SPAN
> cookies. For
<SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>incoming</I
></SPAN
> cookies, use
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES"
>crunch-incoming-cookies</A
></TT
>.
Use <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>both</I
></SPAN
> to disable cookies completely.
</P
><P
> It makes <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>no sense at all</I
></SPAN
> to use this action in conjunction
with the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"
>session-cookies-only</A
></TT
> action,
since it would prevent the session cookies from being read.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usage:</DT
><DD
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+crunch-outgoing-cookies</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="DEANIMATE-GIFS"
></A
>8.5.5. deanimate-gifs</H4
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
>Stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images.</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> De-animate GIF animations, i.e. reduce them to their first or last image.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Parameterized.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
> <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"last"</SPAN
> or <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"first"</SPAN
>
</P
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><P
> This will also shrink the images considerably (in bytes, not pixels!). If
the option <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"first"</SPAN
> is given, the first frame of the animation
is used as the replacement. If <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"last"</SPAN
> is given, the last
frame of the animation is used instead, which probably makes more sense for
most banner animations, but also has the risk of not showing the entire
last frame (if it is only a delta to an earlier frame).
</P
><P
> You can safely use this action with patterns that will also match non-GIF
objects, because no attempt will be made at anything that doesn't look like
a GIF.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usage:</DT
><DD
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+deanimate-gifs{last}</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION"
></A
>8.5.6. downgrade-http-version</H4
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
>Work around (very rare) problems with HTTP/1.1</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> Downgrades HTTP/1.1 client requests and server replies to HTTP/1.0.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Boolean.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
> N/A
</P
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><P
> This is a left-over from the time when <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
>
didn't support important HTTP/1.1 features well. It is left here for the
unlikely case that you experience HTTP/1.1 related problems with some server
out there. Not all (optional) HTTP/1.1 features are supported yet, so there
is a chance you might need this action.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usage (section):</DT
><DD
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>{+downgrade-http-version}
problem-host.example.com</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="FAST-REDIRECTS"
></A
>8.5.7. fast-redirects</H4
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
>Fool some click-tracking scripts and speed up indirect links</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> Cut off all but the last valid URL from requests.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Boolean.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
> N/A
</P
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><P
>
Many sites, like yahoo.com, don't just link to other sites. Instead, they
will link to some script on their own servers, giving the destination as a
parameter, which will then redirect you to the final target. URLs
resulting from this scheme typically look like:
<SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>http://some.place/click-tracker.cgi?target=http://some.where.else</I
></SPAN
>.
</P
><P
> Sometimes, there are even multiple consecutive redirects encoded in the
URL. These redirections via scripts make your web browsing more traceable,
since the server from which you follow such a link can see where you go
to. Apart from that, valuable bandwidth and time is wasted, while your
browser ask the server for one redirect after the other. Plus, it feeds
the advertisers.
</P
><P
> This feature is currently not very smart and is scheduled for improvement.
It is likely to break some sites. You should expect to need possibly
many exceptions to this action, if it is enabled by default in
<TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>default.action</TT
>. Some sites just don't work without
it.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usage:</DT
><DD
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>{+fast-redirects}</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="FILTER"
></A
>8.5.8. filter</H4
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
>Get rid of HTML and JavaScript annoyances, banner advertisements (by size), do fun text replacements, etc.</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> Text documents, including HTML and JavaScript, to which this action
applies, are filtered on-the-fly through the specified regular expression
based substitutions.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Parameterized.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
> The name of a filter, as defined in the <A
HREF="filter-file.html"
>filter file</A
>
(typically <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>default.filter</TT
>, set by the
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="config.html#FILTERFILE"
>filterfile</A
></TT
>
option in the <A
HREF="config.html"
>config file</A
>). Filtering
can be completely disabled without the use of parameters.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><P
> For your convenience, there are a number of pre-defined filters available
in the distribution filter file that you can use. See the examples below for
a list.
</P
><P
> This is potentially a very powerful feature! But <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"rolling your own"</SPAN
>
filters requires a knowledge of regular expressions and HTML.
</P
><P
> Filtering requires buffering the page content, which may appear to
slow down page rendering since nothing is displayed until all content has
passed the filters. (It does not really take longer, but seems that way
since the page is not incrementally displayed.) This effect will be more
noticeable on slower connections.
</P
><P
> The amount of data that can be filtered is limited to the
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="config.html#BUFFER-LIMIT"
>buffer-limit</A
></TT
>
option in the main <A
HREF="config.html"
>config file</A
>. The
default is 4096 KB (4 Megs). Once this limit is exceeded, the buffered
data, and all pending data, is passed through unfiltered. Inappropriate
MIME types are not filtered.
</P
><P
> At this time, <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> cannot (yet!) uncompress compressed
documents. If you want filtering to work on all documents, even those that
would normally be sent compressed, use the
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#PREVENT-COMPRESSION"
>prevent-compression</A
></TT
>
action in conjunction with <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>filter</TT
>.
</P
><P
> Filtering can achieve some of the same effects as the
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
>block</A
></TT
>
action, i.e. it can be used to block ads and banners. But the mechanism
works quite differently. One effective use, is to block ad banners
based on their size (see below), since many of these seem to be somewhat
standardized.
</P
><P
> <A
HREF="contact.html"
>Feedback</A
> with suggestions for new or
improved filters is particularly welcome!
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usage (with filters from the distribution <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>default.filter</TT
> file):</DT
><DD
><P
> <A
NAME="FILTER-HTML-ANNOYANCES"
></A
>
<TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+filter{html-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse.</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
> <A
NAME="FILTER-JS-ANNOYANCES"
></A
>
<TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+filter{js-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
> <A
NAME="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE"
></A
>
<TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+filter{banners-by-size} # Kill banners based on their size for this page (<SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>very</I
></SPAN
> efficient!)</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
> <A
NAME="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-LINK"
></A
>
<TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+filter{banners-by-link} # Kill banners based on the link they are contained in (experimental)</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
> <A
NAME="FILTER-IMG-REORDER"
></A
>
<TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+filter{img-reorder} # Reorder attributes in <img> tags to make the banners-by-* filters more effective</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
> <A
NAME="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES"
></A
>
<TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+filter{content-cookies} # Kill cookies that come sneaking in the HTML or JS content</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
> <A
NAME="FILTER-POPUPS"
></A
>
<TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+filter{popups} # Kill all popups in JS and HTML</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
> <A
NAME="FILTER-WEBBUGS"
></A
>
<TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+filter{webbugs} # Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
> <A
NAME="FILTER-FUN"
></A
>
<TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+filter{fun} # Text replacements for subversive browsing fun!</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
> <A
NAME="FILTER-FRAMESET-BORDERS"
></A
>
<TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+filter{frameset-borders} # Give frames a border and make them resizeable</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
> <A
NAME="FILTER-REFRESH-TAGS"
></A
>
<TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+filter{refresh-tags} # Kill automatic refresh tags (for dial-on-demand setups)</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
> <A
NAME="FILTER-NIMDA"
></A
>
<TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+filter{nimda} # Remove Nimda (virus) code.</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
> <A
NAME="FILTER-SHOCKWAVE-FLASH"
></A
>
<TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+filter{shockwave-flash} # Kill embedded Shockwave Flash objects</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
> <A
NAME="FILTER-CRUDE-PARENTAL"
></A
>
<TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+filter{crude-parental} # Kill all web pages that contain the words "sex" or "warez"</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
> <A
NAME="FILTER-JS-EVENTS"
></A
>
<TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+filter{js-events} # Kill all JS event bindings (<SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>Radically destructive!</I
></SPAN
> Only for extra nasty sites) </PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
></A
>8.5.9. handle-as-image</H4
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
>Mark URLs as belonging to images (so they'll be replaced by images <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>if they get blocked</I
></SPAN
>)</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. It just marks URLs as images.
If the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
>block</A
></TT
> action <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>also applies</I
></SPAN
>,
the presence or absence of this mark decides whether an HTML <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"blocked"</SPAN
>
page, or a replacement image (as determined by the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
>set-image-blocker</A
></TT
> action) will be sent to the
client as a substitute for the blocked content.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Boolean.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
> N/A
</P
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><P
> The below generic example section is actually part of <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>default.action</TT
>.
It marks all URLs with well-known image file name extensions as images and should
be left intact.
</P
><P
> Users will probably only want to use the handle-as-image action in conjunction with
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
>block</A
></TT
>, to block sources of banners, whose URLs don't
reflect the file type, like in the second example section.
</P
><P
> Note that you cannot treat HTML pages as images in most cases. For instance, (in-line) ad
frames require an HTML page to be sent, or they won't display properly.
Forcing <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>handle-as-image</TT
> in this situation will not replace the
ad frame with an image, but lead to error messages.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usage (sections):</DT
><DD
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
># Generic image extensions:
#
{+handle-as-image}
/.*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|bmp|ico)$
# These don't look like images, but they're banners and should be
# blocked as images:
#
{+block +handle-as-image}
some.nasty-banner-server.com/junk.cgi?output=trash
# Banner source! Who cares if they also have non-image content?
ad.doubleclick.net </PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="HIDE-FORWARDED-FOR-HEADERS"
></A
>8.5.10. hide-forwarded-for-headers</H4
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
>Improve privacy by hiding the true source of the request</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> Deletes any existing <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"X-Forwarded-for:"</SPAN
> HTTP header from client requests,
and prevents adding a new one.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Boolean.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
> N/A
</P
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><P
> It is fairly safe to leave this on.
</P
><P
> This action is scheduled for improvement: It should be able to generate forged
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"X-Forwarded-for:"</SPAN
> headers using random IP addresses from a specified network,
to make successive requests from the same client look like requests from a pool of different
users sharing the same proxy.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usage:</DT
><DD
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+hide-forwarded-for-headers</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="HIDE-FROM-HEADER"
></A
>8.5.11. hide-from-header</H4
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
>Keep your (old and ill) browser from telling web servers your email address</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> Deletes any existing <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"From:"</SPAN
> HTTP header, or replaces it with the
specified string.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Parameterized.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
> Keyword: <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"block"</SPAN
>, or any user defined value.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><P
> The keyword <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"block"</SPAN
> will completely remove the header
(not to be confused with the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
>block</A
></TT
>
action).
</P
><P
> Alternately, you can specify any value you prefer to be sent to the web
server. If you do, it is a matter of fairness not to use any address that
is actually used by a real person.
</P
><P
> This action is rarely needed, as modern web browsers don't send
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"From:"</SPAN
> headers anymore.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usage:</DT
><DD
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+hide-from-header{block}</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
> or
<TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+hide-from-header{spam-me-senseless@sittingduck.example.com}</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="HIDE-REFERRER"
></A
>8.5.12. hide-referrer</H4
><A
NAME="HIDE-REFERER"
></A
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
>Conceal which link you followed to get to a particular site</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> Deletes the <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"Referer:"</SPAN
> (sic) HTTP header from the client request,
or replaces it with a forged one.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Parameterized.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
></P
><UL
><LI
><P
><SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"block"</SPAN
> to delete the header completely.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
><SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"forge"</SPAN
> to pretend to be coming from the homepage of the server we are talking to.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>Any other string to set a user defined referrer.</P
></LI
></UL
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><P
> <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"forge"</SPAN
> is the preferred option here, since some servers will
not send images back otherwise, in an attempt to prevent their valuable
content from being embedded elsewhere (and hence, without being surrounded
by <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>their</I
></SPAN
> banners).
</P
><P
>
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>hide-referer</TT
> is an alternate spelling of
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>hide-referrer</TT
> and the two can be can be freely
substituted with each other. (<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"referrer"</SPAN
> is the
correct English spelling, however the HTTP specification has a bug - it
requires it to be spelled as <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"referer"</SPAN
>.)
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usage:</DT
><DD
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+hide-referrer{forge}</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
> or
<TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+hide-referrer{http://www.yahoo.com/}</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="HIDE-USER-AGENT"
></A
>8.5.13. hide-user-agent</H4
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
>Conceal your type of browser and client operating system</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> Replaces the value of the <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"User-Agent:"</SPAN
> HTTP header
in client requests with the specified value.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Parameterized.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
> Any user-defined string.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><DIV
CLASS="WARNING"
><P
></P
><TABLE
CLASS="WARNING"
BORDER="1"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
ALIGN="CENTER"
><B
>Warning</B
></TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
ALIGN="LEFT"
><P
> This breaks many web sites that depend on looking at this header in order
to customize their content for different browsers (which, by the
way, is <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>NOT</I
></SPAN
> a <A
HREF="http://www.javascriptkit.com/javaindex.shtml"
TARGET="_top"
>smart way to do
that</A
>!).
</P
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></DIV
><P
> Using this action in multi-user setups or wherever different types of
browsers will access the same <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> is
<SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>not recommended</I
></SPAN
>. In single-user, single-browser
setups, you might use it to delete your OS version information from
the headers, because it is an invitation to exploit known bugs for your
OS. It is also occasionally useful to forge this in order to access
sites that won't let you in otherwise (though there may be a good
reason in some cases). Example of this: some MSN sites will not
let <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Mozilla</SPAN
> enter, yet forging to a
<SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Netscape 6.1</SPAN
> user-agent works just fine.
(Must be just a silly MS goof, I'm sure :-).
</P
><P
> This action is scheduled for improvement.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usage:</DT
><DD
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+hide-user-agent{Netscape 6.1 (X11; I; Linux 2.4.18 i686)}</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="KILL-POPUPS"
></A
>8.5.14. kill-popups<A
NAME="KILL-POPUP"
></A
></H4
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
>Eliminate those annoying pop-up windows</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> While loading the document, replace JavaScript code that opens
pop-up windows with (syntactically neutral) dummy code on the fly.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Boolean.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
> N/A
</P
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><P
> This action is easily confused with the built-in, hardwired <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
>filter</A
></TT
>
action, but there are important differences: For <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>kill-popups</TT
>,
the document need not be buffered, so it can be incrementally rendered while
downloading. But <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>kill-popups</TT
> doesn't catch as many pop-ups as
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
>filter</A
>{<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>popups</I
></TT
>}</TT
>
does.
</P
><P
> Think of it as a fast and efficient replacement for a filter that you
can use if you don't want any filtering at all. Note that it doesn't make
sense to combine it with any <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
>filter</A
></TT
> action,
since as soon as one <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
>filter</A
></TT
> applies,
the whole document needs to be buffered anyway, which destroys the advantage of
the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>kill-popups</TT
> action over its filter equivalent.
</P
><P
> Killing all pop-ups is a dangerous business. Many shops and banks rely on
pop-ups to display forms, shopping carts etc, and killing only the unwanted pop-ups
would require artificial intelligence in <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
>.
If the only kind of pop-ups that you want to kill are exit consoles (those
<SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>really nasty</I
></SPAN
> windows that appear when you close an other
one), you might want to use
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
>filter</A
>{<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>js-annoyances</I
></TT
>}</TT
>
instead.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usage:</DT
><DD
><P
><TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+kill-popups</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="LIMIT-CONNECT"
></A
>8.5.15. limit-connect</H4
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
>Prevent abuse of <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> as a TCP proxy relay</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> Specifies to which ports HTTP CONNECT requests are allowable.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Parameterized.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
> A comma-separated list of ports or port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the minimum
defaulting to 0 and the maximum to 65K).
</P
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><P
> By default, i.e. if no <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>limit-connect</TT
> action applies,
<SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> only allows HTTP CONNECT
requests to port 443 (the standard, secure HTTPS port). Use
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>limit-connect</TT
> if more fine-grained control is desired
for some or all destinations.
</P
><P
> The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure websites
(<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"https://"</SPAN
> URLs) through proxies. It works very simply:
the proxy connects to the server on the specified port, and then
short-circuits its connections to the client and to the remote server.
This can be a big security hole, since CONNECT-enabled proxies can be
abused as TCP relays very easily.
</P
><P
> If you don't know what any of this means, there probably is no reason to
change this one, since the default is already very restrictive.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usages:</DT
><DD
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+limit-connect{443} # This is the default and need not be specified.
+limit-connect{80,443} # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.
+limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-} # Ports less than 3, 7, 20 to 100 and above 500 are OK.
+limit-connect{-} # All ports are OK (gaping security hole!)</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="PREVENT-COMPRESSION"
></A
>8.5.16. prevent-compression</H4
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
> Ensure that servers send the content uncompressed, so it can be
passed through <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
>filter</A
></TT
>s
</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> Adds a header to the request that asks for uncompressed transfer.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Boolean.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
> N/A
</P
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><P
> More and more websites send their content compressed by default, which
is generally a good idea and saves bandwidth. But for the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
>filter</A
></TT
>, <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS"
>deanimate-gifs</A
></TT
>
and <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"
>kill-popups</A
></TT
> actions to work,
<SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> needs access to the uncompressed data.
Unfortunately, <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> can't yet(!) uncompress, filter, and
re-compress the content on the fly. So if you want to ensure that all websites, including
those that normally compress, can be filtered, you need to use this action.
</P
><P
> This will slow down transfers from those websites, though. If you use any of the above-mentioned
actions, you will typically want to use <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>prevent-compression</TT
> in conjunction
with them.
</P
><P
> Note that some (rare) ill-configured sites don't handle requests for uncompressed
documents correctly (they send an empty document body). If you use <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>prevent-compression</TT
>
per default, you'll have to add exceptions for those sites. See the example for how to do that.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usage (sections):</DT
><DD
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
># Set default:
#
{+prevent-compression}
/ # Match all sites
# Make exceptions for ill sites:
#
{-prevent-compression}
www.debianhelp.org
www.pclinuxonline.com</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="SEND-VANILLA-WAFER"
></A
>8.5.17. send-vanilla-wafer</H4
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
> Feed log analysis scripts with useless data.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> Sends a cookie with each request stating that you do not accept any copyright
on cookies sent to you, and asking the site operator not to track you.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Boolean.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
> N/A
</P
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><P
> The vanilla wafer is a (relatively) unique header and could conceivably be used to track you.
</P
><P
> This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usage:</DT
><DD
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+send-vanilla-wafer</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="SEND-WAFER"
></A
>8.5.18. send-wafer</H4
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
> Send custom cookies or feed log analysis scripts with even more useless data.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> Sends a custom, user-defined cookie with each request.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Multi-value.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
> A string of the form <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>name</I
></TT
>=<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>value</I
></TT
>"</SPAN
>.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><P
> Being multi-valued, multiple instances of this action can apply to the same request,
resulting in multiple cookies being sent.
</P
><P
> This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usage (section):</DT
><DD
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>{+send-wafer{UsingPrivoxy=true}}
my-internal-testing-server.void</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"
></A
>8.5.19. session-cookies-only</H4
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
> Allow only temporary <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"session"</SPAN
> cookies (for the current browser session <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>only</I
></SPAN
>).
</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> Deletes the <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"expires"</SPAN
> field from <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"Set-Cookie:"</SPAN
> server headers.
Most browsers will not store such cookies permanently and forget them in between sessions.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Boolean.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
> N/A
</P
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><P
> This is less strict than <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES"
>crunch-incoming-cookies</A
></TT
> /
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES"
>crunch-outgoing-cookies</A
></TT
> and allows you to browse
websites that insist or rely on setting cookies, without compromising your privacy too badly.
</P
><P
> Most browsers will not permanently store cookies that have been processed by
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>session-cookies-only</TT
> and will forget about them between sessions.
This makes profiling cookies useless, but won't break sites which require cookies so
that you can log in for transactions. This is generally turned on for all
sites, and is the recommended setting.
</P
><P
> It makes <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>no sense at all</I
></SPAN
> to use <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>session-cookies-only</TT
>
together with <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES"
>crunch-incoming-cookies</A
></TT
> or
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES"
>crunch-outgoing-cookies</A
></TT
>. If you do, cookies
will be plainly killed.
</P
><P
> Note that it is up to the browser how it handles such cookies without an <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"expires"</SPAN
>
field. If you use an exotic browser, you might want to try it out to be sure.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usage:</DT
><DD
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+session-cookies-only</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H4
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
></A
>8.5.20. set-image-blocker</H4
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
>Typical use:</DT
><DD
><P
>Choose the replacement for blocked images</P
></DD
><DT
>Effect:</DT
><DD
><P
> This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. If <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>both</I
></SPAN
>
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
>block</A
></TT
> <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>and</I
></SPAN
> <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
>handle-as-image</A
></TT
> <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>also</I
></SPAN
>
apply, i.e. if the request is to be blocked as an image,
<SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>then</I
></SPAN
> the parameter of this action decides what will be
sent as a replacement.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Type:</DT
><DD
><P
>Parameterized.</P
></DD
><DT
>Parameter:</DT
><DD
><P
></P
><UL
><LI
><P
> <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"pattern"</SPAN
> to send a built-in checkerboard pattern image. The image is visually
decent, scales very well, and makes it obvious where banners were busted.
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"blank"</SPAN
> to send a built-in transparent image. This makes banners disappear
completely, but makes it hard to detect where <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> has blocked
images on a given page and complicates troubleshooting if <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
>
has blocked innocent images, like navigation icons.
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>target-url</I
></TT
>"</SPAN
> to
send a redirect to <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>target-url</I
></TT
>. You can redirect
to any image anywhere, even in your local filesystem (via <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"file:///"</SPAN
> URL).
</P
><P
> A good application of redirects is to use special <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
>-built-in
URLs, which send the built-in images, as <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>target-url</I
></TT
>.
This has the same visual effect as specifying <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"blank"</SPAN
> or <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"pattern"</SPAN
> in
the first place, but enables your browser to cache the replacement image, instead of requesting
it over and over again.
</P
></LI
></UL
></DD
><DT
>Notes:</DT
><DD
><P
> The URLs for the built-in images are <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>type</I
></TT
>"</SPAN
>, where <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>type</I
></TT
> is
either <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"blank"</SPAN
> or <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"pattern"</SPAN
>.
</P
><P
> There is a third (advanced) type, called <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"auto"</SPAN
>. It is <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>NOT</I
></SPAN
> to be
used in <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>set-image-blocker</TT
>, but meant for use from <A
HREF="filter-file.html"
>filters</A
>.
Auto will select the type of image that would have applied to the referring page, had it been an image.
</P
></DD
><DT
>Example usage:</DT
><DD
><P
> Built-in pattern:
</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+set-image-blocker{pattern}</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
> Redirect to the BSD devil:
</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+set-image-blocker{http://www.freebsd.org/gifs/dae_up3.gif}</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
> Redirect to the built-in pattern for better caching:
</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="90%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>+set-image-blocker{http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=pattern}</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H3
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="AEN2701"
></A
>8.5.21. Summary</H3
><P
> Note that many of these actions have the potential to cause a page to
misbehave, possibly even not to display at all. There are many ways
a site designer may choose to design his site, and what HTTP header
content, and other criteria, he may depend on. There is no way to have hard
and fast rules for all sites. See the <A
HREF="appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT"
>Appendix</A
> for a brief example on troubleshooting
actions.</P
></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="ALIASES"
></A
>8.6. Aliases</H2
><P
> Custom <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"actions"</SPAN
>, known to <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
>
as <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"aliases"</SPAN
>, can be defined by combining other actions.
These can in turn be invoked just like the built-in actions.
Currently, an alias name can contain any character except space, tab,
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"="</SPAN
>,
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"{"</SPAN
> and <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"}"</SPAN
>, but we <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>strongly
recommend</I
></SPAN
> that you only use <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"a"</SPAN
> to <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"z"</SPAN
>,
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"0"</SPAN
> to <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"9"</SPAN
>, <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"+"</SPAN
>, and <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"-"</SPAN
>.
Alias names are not case sensitive, and are not required to start with a
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"+"</SPAN
> or <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"-"</SPAN
> sign, since they are merely textually
expanded.</P
><P
> Aliases can be used throughout the actions file, but they <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>must be
defined in a special section at the top of the file!</I
></SPAN
>
And there can only be one such section per actions file. Each actions file may
have its own alias section, and the aliases defined in it are only visible
within that file.</P
><P
> There are two main reasons to use aliases: One is to save typing for frequently
used combinations of actions, the other one is a gain in flexibility: If you
decide once how you want to handle shops by defining an alias called
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"shop"</SPAN
>, you can later change your policy on shops in
<SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>one</I
></SPAN
> place, and your changes will take effect everywhere
in the actions file where the <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"shop"</SPAN
> alias is used. Calling aliases
by their purpose also makes your actions files more readable.</P
><P
> Currently, there is one big drawback to using aliases, though:
<SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
>'s built-in web-based action file
editor honors aliases when reading the actions files, but it expands
them before writing. So the effects of your aliases are of course preserved,
but the aliases themselves are lost when you edit sections that use aliases
with it.
This is likely to change in future versions of <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
>.</P
><P
> Now let's define some aliases...</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
> # Useful custom aliases we can use later.
#
# Note the (required!) section header line and that this section
# must be at the top of the actions file!
#
{{alias}}
# These aliases just save typing later:
# (Note that some already use other aliases!)
#
+crunch-all-cookies = +crunch-incoming-cookies +crunch-outgoing-cookies
-crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
# These aliases define combinations of actions
# that are useful for certain types of sites:
#
fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
shop = -crunch-all-cookies -filter{popups} -kill-popups
# Short names for other aliases, for really lazy people ;-)
#
c0 = +crunch-all-cookies
c1 = -crunch-all-cookies</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
> ...and put them to use. These sections would appear in the lower part of an
actions file and define exceptions to the default actions (as specified further
up for the <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"/"</SPAN
> pattern):</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
> # These sites are either very complex or very keen on
# user data and require minimal interference to work:
#
{fragile}
.office.microsoft.com
.windowsupdate.microsoft.com
.nytimes.com
# Shopping sites:
# Allow cookies (for setting and retrieving your customer data)
#
{shop}
.quietpc.com
.worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
.scan.co.uk
# These shops require pop-ups:
#
{shop -kill-popups -filter{popups}}
.dabs.com
.overclockers.co.uk</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
> Aliases like <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"shop"</SPAN
> and <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"fragile"</SPAN
> are often used for
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"problem"</SPAN
> sites that require some actions to be disabled
in order to function properly.</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT2"
><H2
CLASS="SECT2"
><A
NAME="ACT-EXAMPLES"
></A
>8.7. Actions Files Tutorial</H2
><P
> The above chapters have shown <A
HREF="actions-file.html"
>which actions files
there are and how they are organized</A
>, how actions are <A
HREF="actions-file.html#ACTIONS"
>specified</A
> and <A
HREF="actions-file.html#ACTIONS-APPLY"
>applied
to URLs</A
>, how <A
HREF="actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS"
>patterns</A
> work, and how to
define and use <A
HREF="actions-file.html#ALIASES"
>aliases</A
>. Now, let's look at an
example <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>default.action</TT
> and <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>user.action</TT
>
file and see how all these pieces come together:</P
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H3
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="AEN2753"
></A
>8.7.1. default.action</H3
><P
>Every config file should start with a short comment stating its purpose:</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
># Sample default.action file <developers@privoxy.org></PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
>Then, since this is the <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>default.action</TT
> file, the
first section is a special section for internal use that you needn't
change or worry about:</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>##########################################################################
# Settings -- Don't change! For internal Privoxy use ONLY.
##########################################################################
{{settings}}
for-privoxy-version=3.0</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
>After that comes the (optional) alias section. We'll use the example
section from the above <A
HREF="actions-file.html#ALIASES"
>chapter on aliases</A
>,
that also explains why and how aliases are used:</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>##########################################################################
# Aliases
##########################################################################
{{alias}}
# These aliases just save typing later:
# (Note that some already use other aliases!)
#
+crunch-all-cookies = +crunch-incoming-cookies +crunch-outgoing-cookies
-crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
# These aliases define combinations of actions
# that are useful for certain types of sites:
#
fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
shop = mercy-for-cookies -filter{popups} -kill-popups</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
> Now come the regular sections, i.e. sets of actions, accompanied
by URL patterns to which they apply. Remember <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>all actions
are disabled when matching starts</I
></SPAN
>, so we have to explicitly
enable the ones we want.</P
><P
> The first regular section is probably the most important. It has only
one pattern, <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>/</TT
>"</SPAN
>, but this pattern
<A
HREF="actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS"
>matches all URLs</A
>. Therefore, the
set of actions used in this <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"default"</SPAN
> section <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>will
be applied to all requests as a start</I
></SPAN
>. It can be partly or
wholly overridden by later matches further down this file, or in user.action,
but it will still be largely responsible for your overall browsing
experience.</P
><P
> Again, at the start of matching, all actions are disabled, so there is
no real need to disable any actions here, but we will do that nonetheless,
to have a complete listing for your reference. (Remember: a <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"+"</SPAN
>
preceding the action name enables the action, a <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"-"</SPAN
> disables!).
Also note how this long line has been made more readable by splitting it into
multiple lines with line continuation.</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>##########################################################################
# "Defaults" section:
##########################################################################
{ \
-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#ADD-HEADER"
>add-header</A
> \
-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
>block</A
> \
-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES"
>crunch-incoming-cookies</A
> \
-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES"
>crunch-outgoing-cookies</A
> \
+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS"
>deanimate-gifs</A
> \
-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION"
>downgrade-http-version</A
> \
+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FAST-REDIRECTS"
>fast-redirects</A
> \
+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-HTML-ANNOYANCES"
>filter{html-annoyances}</A
> \
+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-JS-ANNOYANCES"
>filter{js-annoyances}</A
> \
-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES"
>filter{content-cookies}</A
> \
+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS"
>filter{popups}</A
> \
+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-WEBBUGS"
>filter{webbugs}</A
> \
-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-REFRESH-TAGS"
>filter{refresh-tags}</A
> \
-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-FUN"
>filter{fun}</A
> \
+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-NIMDA"
>filter{nimda}</A
> \
+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE"
>filter{banners-by-size}</A
> \
-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-BANNERS-BY-LINK"
>filter{banners-by-link}</A
> \
-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-IMG-REORDER"
>filter{img-reorder}</A
> \
-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-SHOCKWAVE-FLASH"
>filter{shockwave-flash}</A
> \
-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-CRUDE-PARENTAL"
>filter{crude-parental}</A
> \
-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-JS-EVENTS"
>filter{js-events}</A
> \
-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
>handle-as-image</A
> \
+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#HIDE-FORWARDED-FOR-HEADERS"
>hide-forwarded-for-headers</A
> \
+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#HIDE-FROM-HEADER"
>hide-from-header{block}</A
> \
+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#HIDE-REFERER"
>hide-referrer{forge}</A
> \
-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#HIDE-USER-AGENT"
>hide-user-agent</A
> \
-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"
>kill-popups</A
> \
-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#LIMIT-CONNECT"
>limit-connect</A
> \
+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#PREVENT-COMPRESSION"
>prevent-compression</A
> \
-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#SEND-VANILLA-WAFER"
>send-vanilla-wafer</A
> \
-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#SEND-WAFER"
>send-wafer</A
> \
+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"
>session-cookies-only</A
> \
+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
>set-image-blocker{pattern}</A
> \
}
/ # forward slash will match *all* potential URL patterns.</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
> The default behavior is now set. Note that some actions, like not hiding
the user agent, are part of a <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"general policy"</SPAN
> that applies
universally and won't get any exceptions defined later. Other choices,
like not blocking (which is <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>understandably</I
></SPAN
> the
default!) need exceptions, i.e. we need to specify explicitly what we
want to block in later sections.
We will also want to make exceptions from our general pop-up-killing,
and use our defined aliases for that.</P
><P
> The first of our specialized sections is concerned with <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"fragile"</SPAN
>
sites, i.e. sites that require minimum interference, because they are either
very complex or very keen on tracking you (and have mechanisms in place that
make them unusable for people who avoid being tracked). We will simply use
our pre-defined <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>fragile</TT
> alias instead of stating the list
of actions explicitly:</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>##########################################################################
# Exceptions for sites that'll break under the default action set:
##########################################################################
# "Fragile" Use a minimum set of actions for these sites (see alias above):
#
{ fragile }
.office.microsoft.com # surprise, surprise!
.windowsupdate.microsoft.com</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
> Shopping sites are not as fragile, but they typically
require cookies to log in, and pop-up windows for shopping
carts or item details. Again, we'll use a pre-defined alias:</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
># Shopping sites:
#
{ shop }
.quietpc.com
.worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
.jungle.com
.scan.co.uk</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
> Then, there are sites which rely on pop-up windows (yuck!) to work.
Since we made pop-up-killing our default above, we need to make exceptions
now. <A
HREF="http://www.mozilla.org/"
TARGET="_top"
>Mozilla</A
> users, who
can turn on smart handling of unwanted pop-ups in their browsers, can
safely choose
-<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS"
>filter{popups}</A
></TT
> (and
-<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"
>kill-popups</A
></TT
>) above
and hence don't need this section. Anyway, disabling an already disabled
action doesn't hurt, so we'll define our exceptions regardless of what was
chosen in the defaults section:</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
># These sites require pop-ups too :(
#
{ -<A
HREF="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"
>kill-popups</A
> -<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS"
>filter{popups}</A
> }
.dabs.com
.overclockers.co.uk
.deutsche-bank-24.de</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
> The <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#FAST-REDIRECTS"
>fast-redirects</A
></TT
>
action, which we enabled per default above, breaks some sites. So disable
it for popular sites where we know it misbehaves:</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>{ -<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FAST-REDIRECTS"
>fast-redirects</A
> }
login.yahoo.com
edit.*.yahoo.com
.google.com
.altavista.com/.*(like|url|link):http
.altavista.com/trans.*urltext=http
.nytimes.com</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
> It is important that <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> knows which
URLs belong to images, so that <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>if</I
></SPAN
> they are to
be blocked, a substitute image can be sent, rather than an HTML page.
Contacting the remote site to find out is not an option, since it
would destroy the loading time advantage of banner blocking, and it
would feed the advertisers (in terms of money <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>and</I
></SPAN
>
information). We can mark any URL as an image with the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
>handle-as-image</A
></TT
> action,
and marking all URLs that end in a known image file extension is a
good start:</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>##########################################################################
# Images:
##########################################################################
# Define which file types will be treated as images, in case they get
# blocked further down this file:
#
{ +<A
HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
>handle-as-image</A
> }
/.*\.(gif|jpe?g|png|bmp|ico)$</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
> And then there are known banner sources. They often use scripts to
generate the banners, so it won't be visible from the URL that the
request is for an image. Hence we block them <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>and</I
></SPAN
>
mark them as images in one go, with the help of our
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>block-as-image</TT
> alias defined above. (We could of
course just as well use <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
>block</A
>
+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
>handle-as-image</A
></TT
> here.)
Remember that the type of the replacement image is chosen by the
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
>set-image-blocker</A
></TT
>
action. Since all URLs have matched the default section with its
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
>set-image-blocker</A
>{pattern}</TT
>
action before, it still applies and needn't be repeated:</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
># Known ad generators:
#
{ block-as-image }
ar.atwola.com
.ad.doubleclick.net
.ad.*.doubleclick.net
.a.yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
.a[0-9].yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
bs*.gsanet.com
bs*.einets.com
.qkimg.net</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
> One of the most important jobs of <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
>
is to block banners. A huge bunch of them are already <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"blocked"</SPAN
>
by the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
>filter</A
>{banners-by-size}</TT
>
action, which we enabled above, and which deletes the references to banner
images from the pages while they are loaded, so the browser doesn't request
them anymore, and hence they don't need to be blocked here. But this naturally
doesn't catch all banners, and some people choose not to use filters, so we
need a comprehensive list of patterns for banner URLs here, and apply the
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
>block</A
></TT
> action to them.</P
><P
> First comes a bunch of generic patterns, which do most of the work, by
matching typical domain and path name components of banners. Then comes
a list of individual patterns for specific sites, which is omitted here
to keep the example short:</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>##########################################################################
# Block these fine banners:
##########################################################################
{ <A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
>+block</A
> }
# Generic patterns:
#
ad*.
.*ads.
banner?.
count*.
/.*count(er)?\.(pl|cgi|exe|dll|asp|php[34]?)
/(?:.*/)?(publicite|werbung|rekla(ma|me|am)|annonse|maino(kset|nta|s)?)/
# Site-specific patterns (abbreviated):
#
.hitbox.com</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
> You wouldn't believe how many advertisers actually call their banner
servers ads.<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>company</I
></TT
>.com, or call the directory
in which the banners are stored simply <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"banners"</SPAN
>. So the above
generic patterns are surprisingly effective.</P
><P
> But being very generic, they necessarily also catch URLs that we don't want
to block. The pattern <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>.*ads.</TT
> e.g. catches
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"nasty-<SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>ads</I
></SPAN
>.nasty-corp.com"</SPAN
> as intended,
but also <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"downlo<SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>ads</I
></SPAN
>.sourcefroge.net"</SPAN
> or
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"<SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>ads</I
></SPAN
>l.some-provider.net."</SPAN
> So here come some
well-known exceptions to the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
>block</A
></TT
>
section above.</P
><P
> Note that these are exceptions to exceptions from the default! Consider the URL
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"downloads.sourcefroge.net"</SPAN
>: Initially, all actions are deactivated,
so it wouldn't get blocked. Then comes the defaults section, which matches the
URL, but just deactivates the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
>block</A
></TT
>
action once again. Then it matches <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>.*ads.</TT
>, an exception to the
general non-blocking policy, and suddenly
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
>+block</A
></TT
> applies. And now, it'll match
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>.*loads.</TT
>, where <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
>-block</A
></TT
>
applies, so (unless it matches <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>again</I
></SPAN
> further down) it ends up
with no <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
>block</A
></TT
> action applying.</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>##########################################################################
# Save some innocent victims of the above generic block patterns:
##########################################################################
# By domain:
#
{ -<A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
>block</A
> }
adv[io]*. # (for advogato.org and advice.*)
adsl. # (has nothing to do with ads)
ad[ud]*. # (adult.* and add.*)
.edu # (universities don't host banners (yet!))
.*loads. # (downloads, uploads etc)
# By path:
#
/.*loads/
# Site-specific:
#
www.globalintersec.com/adv # (adv = advanced)
www.ugu.com/sui/ugu/adv</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
> Filtering source code can have nasty side effects,
so make an exception for our friends at sourceforge.net,
and all paths with <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"cvs"</SPAN
> in them. Note that
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
>filter</A
></TT
>
disables <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>all</I
></SPAN
> filters in one fell swoop!</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
># Don't filter code!
#
{ -<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
>filter</A
> }
/.*cvs
.sourceforge.net</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
> The actual <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>default.action</TT
> is of course more
comprehensive, but we hope this example made clear how it works.</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="SECT3"
><H3
CLASS="SECT3"
><A
NAME="AEN2910"
></A
>8.7.2. user.action</H3
><P
> So far we are painting with a broad brush by setting general policies,
which would be a reasonable starting point for many people. Now,
you might want to be more specific and have customized rules that
are more suitable to your personal habits and preferences. These would
be for narrowly defined situations like your ISP or your bank, and should
be placed in <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>user.action</TT
>, which is parsed after all other
actions files and hence has the last word, over-riding any previously
defined actions. <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>user.action</TT
> is also a
<SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>safe</I
></SPAN
> place for your personal settings, since
<TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>default.action</TT
> is actively maintained by the
<SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> developers and you'll probably want
to install updated versions from time to time.</P
><P
> So let's look at a few examples of things that one might typically do in
<TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>user.action</TT
>: </P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
># My user.action file. <fred@foobar.com></PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
> As <A
HREF="actions-file.html#ALIASES"
>aliases</A
> are local to the actions
file that they are defined in, you can't use the ones from
<TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>default.action</TT
>, unless you repeat them here:</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
># (Re-)define aliases for this file:
#
{{alias}}
-crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
shop = mercy-for-cookies -filter{popups} -kill-popups
allow-ads = -block -filter{banners-by-size} # (see below)</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
>
</P
><P
> Say you have accounts on some sites that you visit regularly, and
you don't want to have to log in manually each time. So you'd like
to allow persistent cookies for these sites. The
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>mercy-for-cookies</TT
> alias defined above does exactly
that, i.e. it disables crunching of cookies in any direction, and
processing of cookies to make them temporary.</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>{ mercy-for-cookies }
sunsolve.sun.com
slashdot.org
.yahoo.com
.msdn.microsoft.com
.redhat.com</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
> Your bank needs popups and is allergic to some filter, but you don't
know which, so you disable them all:</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>{ -<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
>filter</A
> -<A
HREF="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"
>kill-popups</A
> }
.your-home-banking-site.com</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
> While browsing the web with <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> you
noticed some ads that sneaked through, but you were too lazy to
report them through our fine and easy <A
HREF="contact.html"
>feedback</A
>
system, so you have added them here:</P
><P
> <TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>{ +<A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
>block</A
> }
www.a-popular-site.com/some/unobvious/path
another.popular.site.net/more/junk/here/</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
> Note that, assuming the banners in the above example have regular image
extensions (most do),
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>+<A
HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
>handle-as-image</A
></TT
>
need not be specified, since all URLs ending in these extensions will
already have been tagged as images in the relevant section of
<TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>default.action</TT
> by now.</P
><P
> Then you noticed that the default configuration breaks Forbes Magazine,
but you were too lazy to find out which action is the culprit, and you
were again too lazy to give <A
HREF="contact.html"
>feedback</A
>, so
you just used the <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>fragile</TT
> alias on the site, and
-- whoa! -- it worked:</P
><P
><TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>{ fragile }
.forbes.com</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
> You like the <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"fun"</SPAN
> text replacements in <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>default.filter</TT
>,
but it is disabled in the distributed actions file. (My colleagues on the team just
don't have a sense of humour, that's why! ;-). So you'd like to turn it on in your private,
update-safe config, once and for all:</P
><P
><TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>{ +<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-FUN"
>filter{fun}</A
> }
/ # For ALL sites!</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></P
><P
> Note that the above is not really a good idea: There are exceptions
to the filters in <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>default.action</TT
> for things that
really shouldn't be filtered, like code on CVS->Web interfaces. Since
<TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>user.action</TT
> has the last word, these exceptions
won't be valid for the <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"fun"</SPAN
> filtering specified here.</P
><P
> Finally, you might think about how your favourite free websites are
funded, and find that they rely on displaying banner advertisements
to survive. So you might want to specifically allow banners for those
sites that you feel provide value to you:</P
><P
><TABLE
BORDER="0"
BGCOLOR="#E0E0E0"
WIDTH="100%"
><TR
><TD
><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
>{ allow-ads }
.sourceforge.net
.slashdot.org
.osdn.net</PRE
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
> </P
><P
> Note that <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>allow-ads</TT
> has been aliased to
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
>block</A
></TT
>
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>-<A
HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE"
>filter{banners-by-size}</A
></TT
>
above.</P
></DIV
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><A
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ACCESSKEY="P"
>Prev</A
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