Re: Comments on: "Character Set" Considered Harmful

Bob Jung (bobj@netscape.com)
Thu, 27 Apr 95 19:31:01 EDT

At 10:03 PM 4/26/95, Gavin Nicol wrote:
>>>Can anyone think of cases where the charset parameter will *not*
>>>suffice? I have a nagging feeling, but nothing firm in my mind...
>>
>>I would like the same files to be used locally (e.g., CDROMs). In that
>>case, I would not have a charset parameter.
>
>Good point!
>
>How does your server know how to label the content it sends?

The server can configure the "charset parameter" on a file or directory
(recursive) basis.
The content developer must request this from the server administor.

We are not completely happy with this solution. It is inconvenient for
both the content
developer and the server administrator. But Netscape wanted to avoid
compatibility
problems (no wise cracks :-) ). And this was a way to solve the problem
(in the short-term)
in the absence of a new tag ro file extension mechanism.

Long-term it will continue to be useful for all the legacy Web data. It
will provide a means
to label whole subtrees without going back and modifying either content
(via tags)
or filenames (adding filename extensions).

BTW, this feature is in the Netscape 1.1 server and does not exist in 1.0
server.

-Bob

--
Bob Jung        bobj@netscape.com       +1 415 528-2688, fax +1 415 528-4122
Netscape Communications Corp.   501 E. Middlefield      Mtn View, CA   94041