--- loncom/lonnet/perl/lonnet.pm	2008/02/03 05:08:05	1.941
+++ loncom/lonnet/perl/lonnet.pm	2008/02/21 10:04:35	1.942
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # The LearningOnline Network
 # TCP networking package
 #
-# $Id: lonnet.pm,v 1.941 2008/02/03 05:08:05 raeburn Exp $
+# $Id: lonnet.pm,v 1.942 2008/02/21 10:04:35 foxr Exp $
 #
 # Copyright Michigan State University Board of Trustees
 #
@@ -1650,9 +1650,21 @@ sub absolute_url {
     return $protocol.$host_name;
 }
 
+#
+#   Server side include.
+# Parameters:
+#  fn     Possibly encrypted resource name/id.
+#  form   Hash that describes how the rendering should be done
+#         and other things.
+#  r      Optional reference that will be given the response.
+#         This is mostly provided so that the caller can implement
+#         error detection, recovery and retry policies.
+#     
+# Returns:
+#    The content of the response.
 sub ssi {
 
-    my ($fn,%form)=@_;
+    my ($fn,%form, $r)=@_;
 
     my $ua=new LWP::UserAgent;
     
@@ -1670,6 +1682,10 @@ sub ssi {
     $request->header(Cookie => $ENV{'HTTP_COOKIE'});
     my $response=$ua->request($request);
 
+    if ($r) {
+	$$r = $response;
+    }
+
     return $response->content;
 }