iplanet Request-Handling Process (obj.conf):

iplanet obj.conf Request-Handling Process : When Web Server first starts up, it performs some initialization tasks and then waits for an HTTP request from a client (such as a browser). When the server receives a request, it first selects a virtual server. The obj.conf file of the selected virtual server determines how the server handles a request.

The obj.conf file contains a series of instructions known as directives that tell the server what to do at each stage in the request-handling process as below

1.)AuthTrans (authorization translation) : Verify the authorization information (such as name and password) sent in the request.
2.)NameTrans (name translation): Translate the logical URI into a local file system path.
3.PathCheck (path checking): Check the local file system path for validity and check if the requestor has access privileges to the requested resource on the file system.
4.ObjectType (object typing): Determine the Multipurpose Internet Mail Encoding (MIME) type of the requested resource (for example, text/html, image/gif, and so on), and establish other resource-specific settings.
5.Input (prepare to read input): Select filters that will process incoming request data read by the Service step.
6.Output (prepare to send output): Select filters that will process outgoing response data generated by the Service step.
7.Route (request routing): Select the server to service the request.
8.Service (generate the response): Generate and return the response to the client.
9.AddLog (adding log entries):Add entries to log files.
Source :http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19146-01/821-1827/abvag/index.html