Re: [http-state] Is this an omission in the parser rules of draft-ietf-httpstate-cookie-21?

Adam Barth <ietf@adambarth.com> Fri, 04 February 2011 18:48 UTC

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From: Adam Barth <ietf@adambarth.com>
Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2011 10:51:16 -0800
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To: Remy Lebeau <remy@lebeausoftware.org>
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Cc: http-state@ietf.org
Subject: Re: [http-state] Is this an omission in the parser rules of draft-ietf-httpstate-cookie-21?
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On Fri, Feb 4, 2011 at 10:47 AM, Remy Lebeau <remy@lebeausoftware.org> wrote:
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [http-state] Is this an omission in the parser rules of
> draft-ietf-httpstate-cookie-21?
> From: Adam Barth
> Date: Fri, February 04, 2011 10:19 am
> To: Remy Lebeau
> Cc: http-state@ietf.org
>
>> The draft gives user agents precise
>> instructions for how to parse all
>> manner of cookies, including cookies with
>> values that contain quote characters. That
>> information is contained in Section 5
>
> I have re-read Section 5 and I do not see its grammar or parsing rules
> accounting for quoted-string values at all. It only says to remove WSP
> characters surrounding extracted names and values, and quote characters
> are not part of the WSP definition. So what am I missing? Where exactly
> does it say how to unquote a quoted-string used in attribute values?

Precisely.  It does not say to unquote a quoted-string because that's
not how cookies work.  The role of the quote character is cookies is
identical to the role of the "!" character.  That is, neither play a
special role in the protocol.  Any representations by the contrary by
2109 or any other document are fiction and have only caused pain and
misery in the world.

Adam