Re: v11-03 COMMENT: 12.4 Client Error 4xx

    I think the wording of the Note is confusing as to who is closing
    an input connection.  Here are some proposed different words:

    Note: Server implementations that use TCP SHOULD ensure that the
    client acknowledges receipt of the packet(s) containing its
    response before it closes its input connection. Otherwise, if the
    client continues to send data after the server has closed the input
    connection, the server's controller will send a reset packet to the
    client, which may erase unacknowledged packets in the client's
    input buffers before it can read and interpret them.

Clearly the wording is confusing, because you seem to have
misunderstood the subject of the verb "closing" and thus you
have generated an incorrect paraphrase (if the second "its"
in your first sentence refers to the client; otherwise, you
have a number-agreement error).  The original (v11-03) wording was:

  Note: If the client is sending data, server implementations using
  TCP SHOULD be careful to ensure that the client acknowledges
  receipt of the packet(s) containing the response prior to closing
  the input connection. If the client continues sending data to the
  server after the close, the server's controller will send a reset
  packet to the client, which may erase the client's unacknowledged
  input buffers before they can be read and interpreted by the HTTP
  application.

and a less ambiguous rewrite would be:

  Note: If the client is sending data, a server implementation using
  TCP SHOULD be careful to ensure that the client acknowledges receipt
  of the packet(s) containing the response before the server closes the
  input connection.  If the client continues sending data to the server
  after the close, the server's controller will send a reset packet to
  the client, which may erase the client's unacknowledged input buffers
  before they can be read and interpreted by the HTTP application.

-Jeff

Received on Tuesday, 14 May 1996 15:33:39 UTC