Subject: Ftp-WG: Suggestion - blank userid in FTP URLs.

From: Frank da Cruz <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 8 Oct 2002 14:31:20 -0500

> So, since these have some problems, can anyone suggest a form of generic 
> FTP URL that could be used to say that the browser must ask its user for a 
> name as well as a password?  Or are the problems I've described simply too 
> insignificant, and one of the above should be adopted?
> 
Wouldn't the syntax be:

  ftp://[user[:password]]@host[:service][/path...]

?  In which case if user is specified but no password, the client could
prompt for the password.  (Or, theoretically, also vice-versa :-)

It's implemented like this in the Kermit ftp client.

- Frank

---

From: Alun Jones <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 8 Oct 2002 15:29:13 -0500

>It's implemented like this in the Kermit ftp client.

That's correct, but the user is asking for a means to supply a URL that 
asks for _both_ the user name and password.  "ftp://?@localhost", when fed 
to IE, goes away for a while (to send "USER ?" and probably a blank for the 
password), and then prompts with the box, but I was hoping to get something 
that could be agreed upon as a standard.

Interestingly, "ftp://@localhost" is treated as the same as 
"ftp://localhost", which is a no-no according to RFC 1738.  Same for 
"ftp://:@localhost" (no surprise).  I guess in many ways, we're dealing 
with a screwed-up implementation of FTP to begin with, from companies 
(Netscape _and_ Microsoft are equally messed up) that see FTP as something 
that they'll support if they absolutely have to, but they aren't going to 
bother with doing anything properly if they can take a shortcut.

Alun.
~~~~

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