Re: plain text protocol [was: Re: Performance analysis questions]
hallam@dxal18.cern.ch (HALLAM-BAKER Phillip)
Errors-To: listmaster@www0.cern.ch
Date: Sun, 5 Jun 1994 21:44:45 +0200
Errors-To: listmaster@www0.cern.ch
Message-id: <9406051942.AA01260@dxal18.cern.ch>
Errors-To: listmaster@www0.cern.ch
Reply-To: hallam@dxal18.cern.ch
Originator: www-talk@info.cern.ch
Sender: www-talk@www0.cern.ch
Precedence: bulk
From: hallam@dxal18.cern.ch (HALLAM-BAKER Phillip)
To: Multiple recipients of list <www-talk@www0.cern.ch>
Subject: Re: plain text protocol [was: Re: Performance analysis questions]
X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas
In article <7235@cernvm.cern.ch> you write:
|>>> Suppose, in the future, we want to be able to take the md5 checksum of
|>>> the HTTP headers. If you corrupt the bytes by throwing away whitespace
|>>> at the end of a line, you defeat such efforts.
|>>
|>> You're saying that HTTP is -not- a plain text protocol.
|>> If it's not a plain text protocol, then GET should have been
|>>something like (in C):
|>>
|>> sprintf(GET_REQUEST,"%c%s",0x01,URL)
|>
|>
|>What is a "plain text protocol"? If you answer, please be very, very
|>precise.
|>
|>HTTP depends on reliable, 8-bit transport. The fact that HTTP has byte
|>sequences that spell out English words has no implication on other aspects
|>of the protocol.
The security extensions have been designed specifically to ensure that headers
can be MD5'd. A signed header consists of two parts, one that is signed and
another that is unsigned. So a gateway must preserve absolutely the signed
parts but can add in extra bits into the unsigned portion (eg going through
a gateway).
--
Phillip M. Hallam-Baker
Not Speaking for anyone else.