URLs

You retrieve a page from the Web using its uniform resource locator (URL). For example, my resume is on the Web, and its URL is: http://bpastudio.csudh.edu/fac/lpress/resume.htm. (Web clients display the URL of the current page in a status area near the top).

URLs have a specific format or syntax. For example, the URL of my resume is composed of the following parts:

http://: This indicates that the resume is on a Web server.
bpastudio.csudh.edu: This is the domain name of the host computer my resume is stored on.
fac/lpress/: The Web site is organized into sub-directories. This is the sub-directory my resume is stored in.
resume.htm: This is the name of the file with my resume. The extension indicates that it is an hypertext markup language file (HTML) file.

Note that the URL is unique. There is only one Internet host with the domain name bpastudio.csudh.edu. That host computer may be running several server programs, but we have specified that this document can be found using the Web server. Finally, we have given the exact location of the file in storage.

One more point -- you may have noted that some documents on the Web have simpler URLs, for example, our school home page is at http://www.csudh.edu. There is no sub-directory or document name.

There is no sub-directory, because the document is stored in the top level or root directory of the Web site, so the Web server will look there. But there is no document name either. If there is no document name, the Web server will look for a document with a default name. The usual default names are index.htm, index.html, default.htm and default.html. The Web server administrator can control the list of default names.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on unofficial pages of California State University, Dominguez Hills faculty, staff or students are strictly those of the page authors. The content of these pages has not been reviewed or approved by California State University, Dominguez Hills.