RE: Use of ";" in URL for HTTP

It is part of a path name under VMS

ISC6A1 $ DIR ZZMDE*.DAT

Directory USR$:[USER.WOODHOUSE]

ZZMDE1.DAT;1        ZZMDE2.DAT;2        ZZMDE2_539041388.DAT;1

Total of 3 files.
ISC6A1 $ 

The number after the semicolon is the version number of the file.

===
Gregory Woodhouse  <gregory.woodhouse@med.va.gov>
System Design & Development
+1 510 768 6862



-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Lawrence [mailto:lawrence@world.std.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 05, 2002 9:27 AM
To: ietf-http-wg@w3.org; Diwakar Shetty
Subject: Re: Use of ";" in URL for HTTP



9/5/2002 12:55:27 AM, Diwakar Shetty <diwakar.shetty@oracle.com> wrote:
> I could understand the use of "&" in URL for HTTP requests
>
>"&" separates the <name>=<value> pair
>
> However, what is the use of ";" in URLS for HTTP ?

Semicolon is just another valid character in the path component
of a URL - it has no special significance.  When the Web was
being invented, VMS was an important platform, and the semicolon 
was used in VMS file names, so making it a legal path name
component was important.

--
Scott Lawrence                             
  <lawrence@world.std.com>

Received on Thursday, 5 September 2002 14:45:44 UTC