I looked at the pages you referenced below. While I can't speak to the issue that started this thread (file uploads via HTTPS not working), I'm reading the netscape articles a little differently that it appears you are.

The NSAPI mentioned in the file_uploading.html article is just the way you extend the way a netscape web server works. Microsoft IIS servers use ISAPI for the same thing. The file upload "extension" they're talking about is simply a different way of coding up the ability for the web server to read the contents of the file being uploaded. Similar tools are available for Microsoft IIS, although with the exception of their posting acceptor ISAPI component, most of these tools look much more like CGI. In any case, the client side doesn't act any differently - the browser still handles the file upload the way it normally does to any other web server supporting multi-part MIME transfers. Unless there's a bug in the NSAPI code mentioned, it should work just as well via Curl as it does via IE or Netscape browsers.

The only Java client-side applet I've ever heard of with regards to file uploads is the type that allows the user to choose more than one file at a time to upload, or that provides the user with a progress indicator, something that "off-the-shelf" web browsers don't typically do. Think of the Java applet as a tool that can talk with a web server, very similar to the function curl performs, except the applet is limited to uploading files and it provides a pretty user interface...

Regarding the second article, that doesn't seem to say anything at all about file uploads. It's talking about handling user authentication differently than would be considered "standard". The tricks that article talks about are exactly the reason it can be tricky to use Curl with some web sites. It's trying to be smart about handling incoming requests based upon whether authentication headers came with the request or not.

--Kevin

>>> "Frank Reid" <fcreid_at_ourcorner.org> 2/07/01 4:24 PM >>>
From what I can find, Netscape uses a proprietary API used for uploading
files to their server. This is apparently why non-Netscape browsers are
prompted to download/run a Java applet to accomplish this. Details are at:
http://developer.iplanet.com/docs/examples/java/file_uploading.html

One of their three listed methods, NSAPI, apparently includes some C wrapper
functions that could be candidates for future inclusion in curl, should you
desire to support IWS more fully. These are detailed at:
http://developer.iplanet.com/viewsource/bosamiya_nsapi.html

I haven't done "conclusive" analysis on the problem, but those are my
initial findings, and I understand it's probably not worth the effort to
support what appears to be a proprietary requirement. If anyone has found
out differently working with iPlanet/Netscape Web Server, I'd be anxious to
compare notes.
Received on 2001-02-08