/django/contrib/staticfiles/views.py

"""
Views and functions for serving static files. These are only to be used during
development, and SHOULD NOT be used in a production setting.

"""
import os
import posixpath
import urllib

from django.conf import settings
from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
from django.http import Http404
from django.views import static

from django.contrib.staticfiles import finders

def serve(request, path, document_root=None, insecure=False, **kwargs):
    """
    Serve static files below a given point in the directory structure or
    from locations inferred from the staticfiles finders.

    To use, put a URL pattern such as::

        (r'^(?P<path>.*)$', 'django.contrib.staticfiles.views.serve')

    in your URLconf.

    It uses the django.views.static view to serve the found files.
    """
    if not settings.DEBUG and not insecure:
        raise ImproperlyConfigured("The staticfiles view can only be used in "
                                   "debug mode or if the the --insecure "
                                   "option of 'runserver' is used")
    normalized_path = posixpath.normpath(urllib.unquote(path)).lstrip('/')
    absolute_path = finders.find(normalized_path)
    if not absolute_path:
        raise Http404("'%s' could not be found" % path)
    document_root, path = os.path.split(absolute_path)
    return static.serve(request, path, document_root=document_root, **kwargs)