Subject: Re: [1.4beta/i386 boot floppy] ftp url parsing
To: Alan Barrett <apb@iafrica.com>
From: Andrew Brown <atatat@atatdot.net>
List: current-users
Date: 04/27/1999 15:17:03
>An URL that expresses the idea 
>	First "CWD .."
>	then "CWD data/users/c797061"
>	then "RETR file"
>would be
>	ftp://host/../data%2Fusers%2Fc797061/file
>		   ~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~
>   first CWD ------^  ^                      ^
>   second CWD --------^                      ^
>   RETR -------------------------------------^
>
>The part between the hostname and the filename in an FTP URL
>is a slash-separated list of args to be passed (one at a time)
>to a set of CWD commands.  (See RFC 1734 section 3.2.3.)

why can it simply not connect and request

   /../data%2Fusers%2Fc797061/file

all at once?  with %-expansion already done, of course.  my basis for
this is that with the current "schema", the slash between the
host:port part and the path/file part is never used.  and it should
be.

as an example for the use of the /, try using netscape to go to some
ftp server as

   ftp://username@hostname.com

and give it your password when it asks.  then try it like this:

   ftp://username@hostname.com/

with the slash.  it behaves differently.

ps - solaris bites!  argh!!!

-- 
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