# Using Static Files - Google App Engine - Google Code

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e.g. "templates" or "datastore"

# Using Static Files

Unlike a traditional web hosting environment, Google App Engine does not serve files directly out of your application's source directory unless configured to do so. We named our template file `index.html`, but this does not automatically make the file available at the URL `/index.html`.

But there are many cases where you want to serve static files directly to the web browser. Images, CSS stylesheets, JavaScript code, movies and Flash animations are all typically stored with a web application and served directly to the browser. You can tell App Engine to serve specific files directly without your having to code your own handler.

## Using Static Files

Edit `helloworld/app.yaml` and replace its contents with the following:

    application: helloworld
    version: 1
    runtime: python27
    api_version: 1
    threadsafe: true

    handlers:
    - url: /stylesheets
      static_dir: stylesheets

    - url: /.*
      script: helloworld.app

    libraries:
    - name: jinja2
      version: latest

The new `handlers` section defines two handlers for URLs. When App Engine receives a request with a URL beginning with `/stylesheets`, it maps the remainder of the path to files in the `stylesheets` directory and, if an appropriate file is found, the contents of the file are returned to the client. All other URLs match the `/` path, and are handled by the `app` object in the `helloworld` module.

By default, App Engine serves static files using a MIME type based on the filename extension. For example, a file with a name ending in `.css` will be served with a MIME type of `text/css`. You can configure explicit MIME types with additional options.

URL handler path patterns are tested in the order they appear in `app.yaml`, from top to bottom. In this case, the `/stylesheets` pattern will match before the `/.*` pattern will for the appropriate paths. For more information on URL mapping and other options you can specify in `app.yaml`, see the app.yaml reference.

Create the directory `helloworld/stylesheets`. In this new directory, create a new file named `main.css` with the following contents:

    body {
      font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;
      background-color: #DDDDDD;
    }

Finally, edit `helloworld/index.html` and insert the following lines just after the `<html>` line at the top:

      <head>
        <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="/stylesheets/main.css" />
      </head>

Reload the page in your browser. The new version uses the stylesheet.

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