Summary of Actix Static Files Documentation

The Actix framework provides a robust solution for serving static files in web applications. This documentation outlines how to set up and use static file serving in Actix effectively.

Key Concepts

• Static Files: These are files that remain unchanged, such as images, CSS files, and JavaScript files.
• Actix Web: A powerful, pragmatic, and extremely fast web framework for Rust.

Serving Static Files

To serve static files in an Actix application, you typically use the actix_files crate. Here’s how to get started:

Steps to Serve Static Files

1. Directory Structure: Ensure your static files are organized properly. In the example above, files should be placed in a folder named static.

Create a Handler: Use Files::new to create a handler for your static files.

use actix_files::Files;
use actix_web::{App, HttpServer};

#[actix_web::main]
async fn main() -> std::io::Result<()> {
    HttpServer::new(|| {
        App::new()
            .service(Files::new("/static", "./static").show_files_listing())
    })
    .bind("127.0.0.1:8080")?
    .run()
    .await
}

Add Dependency: Include actix-files in your Cargo.toml.

[dependencies]
actix-web = "4"
actix-files = "0.6"

Example Directory Structure

your_project/
├── Cargo.toml
├── src/
│   └── main.rs
└── static/
    ├── css/
    │   └── style.css
    ├── js/
    │   └── script.js
    └── images/
        └── logo.png

Configuration Options

• show_files_listing(): This method allows users to see a listing of files in the directory when they access the endpoint.
• Custom Route: You can customize the route where static files are served, like /assets instead of /static.

Conclusion

Serving static files in Actix is straightforward. By following these steps, you can easily configure your application to serve various types of static content. This is essential for building modern web applications that require assets like CSS, JavaScript, and images.