Re: Claification requested in Host:
touch@isi.edu
Fri, 14 Feb 1997 14:00:59 -0800
> Here is a HTTP 1.1 question for you. According to the spec 14.23, the
> Host field is defined as
> "Host" ":" host [ ":" port ]
> where (in 3.2.2), host is defined as
> <a legal Internet host domain name or IP address...>
>
> The question is whether a single component name consititute a "legal"
> Internet host domain name? For example, a user types in "foo" at his
HTTP 1.1 refs RFC1123 on this, of which section 6.1.4.3, on abbreviation,
is relevant.
The RFC1123 indicates abrreviation (supporting it at the user interface)
as "MAY", not MUST or SHOULD.
> The question is whether a single component name consititute a "legal"
> Internet host domain name? For example, a user types in "foo" at his
> browser, which runs in domain "xyz.com". The browser is smart enough
> to assume the use wants to talk to "foo.xyz.com", and hence gets the
> correct IP address. But in the HTTP request, the browser sends
The way I read the spec, it appears that
browser aaa.browser.com
requests foo
if the browser does the lookup to IP addr, it would ask for
foo.browser.com
i.e., foo in the current context
if the browser redirects, it doesn't lookup, which means
http://foo/...
get sent to a proxy at:
proxy ppp.proxy.com
the server would do the resolution, i.e., testing for
foo.proxy.com
So the answer depends on whether the browser is proxied or not,
which seems a little odd and certainly unpredictable.
As a result, I would assume that the browser would have to
extend the name itself, asking for
http://foo.browser.com/...
Joe
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Touch - touch@isi.edu http://www.isi.edu/~touch/
ISI / Project Leader, ATOMIC-2, LSAM http://www.isi.edu/atomic2/
USC / Research Assistant Prof. http://www.isi.edu/lsam/