Re: SSL Tunneling; Informational RFC; Last call?

Larry Masinter <masinter@parc.xerox.com> wrote:
>> >  This then begs the question of whether the "200 OK" response to a
>> > CONNECT request should include a content-type (our tunneling
>> > implementation does not currently send one). I think that it should,
>> > and a new MIME type like "application/tunnel" should be sent. This
>> > is obviously not a requirement, but would be nice for completeness.
>> 
>> I have nothing against a MIME type, but I think that this RFC should
>> document the current behavior, and currently there is no MIME type.
>> 
>
>Well, if the standard says that HTTP bodies must be labelled with
>a content-type, then you should point out that this is an exception,
>or recommend that it be sent but note that it isn't implemented.
>
>That is, the RFC can not only document current behavior, it can also
>propose changes to current behavior, if it's advisable.

	Assuming the Netscape proxies handle CONNECT requests like
CERN proxies with Ari's patch, they return:

	HTTP/major.minor 200 connection establishedCRLFCRLF

with no body.  A UA also receives a 200 with no body for a HEAD
request.  So it seems simply a matter of making clear in the RFC
that no body is returned with the 200 for a CONNECT request, and
the UA simply proceeds with its handshake, etc., through the tunnel.
It makes no sense for the proxy to return a Content-Type header on
success for that method.

	One might argue that the proxy should return a 204 (no content),
but the RFC descriptions for a 204 indictate that the UA should restore
the current document on receiving a 204, and that's not what the UA
should do on receiving a success status code for a CONNECT request.

				Fote

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Received on Tuesday, 16 September 1997 17:56:55 UTC