Re: Outlook and HTTP-mail server

From: Henrik Nordstrom <hno@dont-contact.us>
Date: Fri, 14 May 1999 09:18:34 +0200

Mike Batchelor wrote:
>
> PROPFIND is not a HTTP method. Outlook will not work with any standard proxy
> using this method. Well, maybe it would work with MSProxy, but it isn't HTTP,
> and I doubt MS documented it well enough to implement in other products. This
> is an example of "embrace and extend". Naughty stuff. I urge you to shun it.

Well... actually it is a HTTP method, but not a standard one. HTTP/1.0
and 1.1
allows for extensions to the list of methods. Squid does not. Any such
extensions are left undefined and it is up to the application both on
the
HTTP server and client to agree on their function.

Passing such requests throught an proxy is optional and not required by
the
draft standard. Squid can not pass other than a defined set of methods.

Some references to further reading:

draft-ieft-http-v11-spec-06, HTTP/1.1 draft standard

1.1, third paragraph
   ...
   retrieval, including search, front-end update, and annotation. HTTP
   allows an open-ended set of methods and headers that indicate the
   purpose of a request [47]. It builds on the discipline of reference
   ...

5.5.1, method token syntax
       Method = "OPTIONS" ; Section 9.2
                      | "GET" ; Section 9.3
                      | "HEAD" ; Section 9.4
        ....
                      | extension-method
       extension-method = token

13.10, last paragraph

   A cache that passes through requests for methods it does not
   understand SHOULD invalidate any entities referred to by the Request-
   URI.

RFC2324, Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol (HTCPCP/1.0)

[whole RFC. Interesting reading ;-)]

RFC2518, HTTP Extensions for Distributed Authoring

[another HTTP extension. Defines PROPFIND and a whole bunch of other
methods]

--
Henrik Nordstrom
Spare time Squid hacker
Received on Fri May 14 1999 - 01:20:38 MDT

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