Re: JDK 1.* and HTTP/1.1

[Rodent of Unusual Size <co...@decus.org>]

    Let us all tune to the same frequency..  Please note all the players
    in the To and Cc headers.  There are definitely too many David B's
    here.. ;->

    The Apache Group had reported to it that the java.net.URLConnection
    class was encountering problems accessing Apache 1.2 server URLs,
    which return an HTTP/1.1 response.  I verified this with an
    application built on my Macintosh using the JDK 1.0.2 compiler &
    libraries.  The symptom is/was that the application received a
    stream of data that included the HTTP headers, rather than having
    them stripped first.  I had reported to me, but wasn't able to
    verify (for lack of the JDK 1.1 software for Mac :-( that the problem
    persisted in JDK 1.1.

    Once I verified the 1.0.2 problem, I check JavaSoft's known/fixed
    bugs pages and found nothing.  I then reported it through the
    JavaSoft bug reporting page, including a pointer to a Web page that
    demonstrated the behaviour.  (Unfortunately that site is currently
    down, and won't be back for a few days.)  In parallel, I reported it
    to David Burnette at JavaWorld.

    David Burnette forwarded it around, and I had an interchange with Chuck
    McManis.  Chuck identified the particular area in the sun.net
    package that was causing the problem, and pointed out that the
    problem was in a per-implementation package - indicating that Java
    source licensees (correct terminology?  Whatever..) would have to
    rework it as well as Sun.

    I informed The Apache Group of things so far - this is where Sameer
    got involved.  In the last 24 hours, I received the attached
    message, but had not yet forwarded it to The Apache Group, and so
    Sameer didn't get it before sending another message.

    So.. Looking at the attached message, it looks as though the problem
    is fixed.  Questions:

     1. Why wasn't this logged in the known/fixed bugs list?  This is a
        significant bug!
     2. Why am I getting reports that it's still broken in the from-Sun
        JDK 1.1 libraries?
     3. What does Sun plan to do about notifying the Java user
        community, and how can I or The Apache Group be of assistance?
     4. I don't see how David Brown's assertion that there will be no
        problem when Apache 1.2 hits the streets can be true.  Existing
    	applications will need to be rebuilt using the updated class
    	libraries first.  N'est-ce pas?

    #ken    :-/}
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>From the fingers of David Brown <Da...@Eng.Sun.COM> flowed the following:
>
>   It is true that JDK1.0.2 had the problem that
>it didn't understand HTTP responses that didn't
>start with "HTTP/1.0".  However, the current JDK
>HTTP classes operate correctly and normally
>for any response starting with "HTTP/1.".  So
>java applications should work without a hiccup
>when the Apache upgrade hits the internet.  This
>has been fixed in our sources since September
>of last year, which means that is has been fixed
>since the first alpha release of JDK1.1 last
>fall, and of course in all subsequent JDK1.1
>releases to date.
>
>Hope this clears up any confusion,
>
>Dave Brown
>JavaSoft