# Re: a better ftp URL

Jon Knight (J.P.Knight@lut.ac.uk)
Fri, 26 Nov 93 10:47:32 GMT

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    Message-Id: <9311261047.AA18424@suna.lut.ac.uk>

    From: Jon Knight <J.P.Knight@lut.ac.uk>

    Subject: Re: a better ftp URL

    To: mpm@boombox.micro.umn.edu

    Date: Fri, 26 Nov 93 10:47:32 GMT

    In-Reply-To: <9311251818.AA23506@boombox.micro.umn.edu>; from "Mark P. McCahill" at Nov 25, 93 12:18 pm

Recently Mark P. McCahill said:
>
>
> url:ftp://[user [:password] @] host [port]/access-type path
>
> [...]
> Examples:
> [...]
>
> The file debating-society which is to be retrieved in ascii using
> the username nirvana with the password in-utero from the machine
> seattle.edu on port 1234 would have this url:
>
> url:ftp://nirvana :in-utero seattle.edu 1234/adebating-society
>

Following the spec give above, shouldn't the example have an ``@''
between the ``:in-utero'' and the ``seattle.edu''? Also, why not encode
the access type in the first part of the URL rather than tacking it onto
the path? Something like:

url:ftp://[user [:password] @] host [port] [:access-type]/path

The ``:access-type'' can't get confused with the password because it
appears on the other side of the non-optional ``host''. It can't get
confused with the optional ``port'' because ``port'' doesn't have a
leading ``:''.

Also, do you propose keeping a ``file'' URL for local file access (as
many WWW clients currently allow) or would you use something like:

url:ftp://:a/textfile

In this case, ``host'' has now become optional, which complicates things
a bit. I'd personally stick to using a spearate ``file'' URL for local
file access.

Its nice to see some concrete proposals about this; its definately one
URL that is broken (even in the existing WWW).

Jon

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Jon Knight, Research Student in High Performance Networking and Distributed
Systems in the Department of _Computer_Studies_ at Loughborough University.
* Its not how big your share is, its how much you share that's important. *

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