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rfc:rfc2936

Network Working Group D. Eastlake Request for Comments: 2936 Motorola Category: Informational C. Smith

                                                   Royal Bank of Canada
                                                              D. Soroka
                                                                    IBM
                                                         September 2000
                  HTTP MIME Type Handler Detection

Status of this Memo

 This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
 not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
 memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2000).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

 Entities composing web pages to provide services over the Hypertext
 Transfer Protocol (HTTP) frequently have the problem of not knowing
 what Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) types have handlers
 installed at a user's browser.  For example, whether an Internet Open
 Trading Protocol (IOTP) or VRML or SET or some streaming media
 handler is available.  In some cases they would want to display
 different web pages or content depending on a MIME handler's
 availability.  This document summarizes reasonable techniques to
 solve this problem for most of the browsers actually deployed on the
 Internet as of early 2000.  It is intended to be of practical use to
 implementors during the period before the wide deployment of superior
 standards based techniques which may be developed.

Acknowledegements

 Helpful comments by Tony Lewis of Visa have been incorporated.

Eastlake, et al. Informational [Page 1] RFC 2936 HTTP MIME Type Handler Detection September 2000

Table of Contents

 1. Introduction.................................................  2
 2. The HTTP 'Accept' Header.....................................  2
 3. JavaScript...................................................  3
 4. ActiveX and the Windows Registry.............................  4
 5. ECML, The Electronic Commerce Modeling Language..............  4
 6. Putting It All Together......................................  5
 7. Future Development...........................................  5
 8. Security Considerations......................................  5
 9. IANA Considerations..........................................  6
 References......................................................  6
 Appendix A: Browser Version Sniffer Code........................  8
 Authors' Addresses.............................................. 12
 Full Copyright Statement........................................ 13

1. Introduction

 Entities composing web pages to provide services over [HTTP]
 frequently have the problem of not knowing what [MIME] types have
 handlers installed at a user's browser.  For example, whether an
 [IOTP] or VRML or [SET] or some streaming media handler is available.
 In many cases they would want to display different web pages or
 content depending on a MIME handler's availability.  Sending a
 response with a MIME type that is not supported frequently results in
 interrupting the flow of the user experience, browser queries as to
 what to do with the data being provided, and, of course, failure to
 provide the behavior that would have occurred had the correct MIME
 type handler been installed.
 This document describes reasonable techniques to solve this problem
 for most of the browsers actually deployed on the Internet as of
 early 2000.  It is intended to be of practical use to implementors
 during the period before the wide deployment of superior standards
 based techniques which may be developed.  It is written in terms of
 determining whether a handler for application/iotp or application/x-
 iotp exists but is equally applicable to other MIME types.

2. The HTTP 'Accept' Header

 The problem should be solved by the Hyper Text Transport Protocol
 [HTTP] request "Accept" header which lists accepted [MIME] types.
 This header is present in both Version 1.0 and 1.1 of HTTP and its
 content is supposed to be a list of MIME types and subtypes that are
 accepted.  The only problem is that many browsers just send "*/*" or
 the like.

Eastlake, et al. Informational [Page 2] RFC 2936 HTTP MIME Type Handler Detection September 2000

 If the particular MIME type you are looking for is specifically
 present in the Accept header, it is generally safe to assume that a
 handler for it is actually installed or part of the browser.
 NOTE: Although not part of the main topic of this document, if you
 are designing MIME type handler software and have access to a browser
 interface that allows you to request the insertion of the MIME type
 or types your software handles into the Accept header, you generally
 should do so.  It will make it easier for servers sensitive to that
 MIME type to respond correctly.

3. JavaScript

 Most recent browsers support one or more scripting languages of which
 the most widely deployed is "JavaScript".  These scripting languages
 appear in web pages and permit the interpretive execution of
 programming language constructs that can probe the browser
 environment, conditionally cause different page contents to be
 displayed, etc.  For example, Appendix A shows JavaScript available
 from the Netscape web site for determining what operating system,
 browser, and version on which a web page is appearing.
 NOTE: JavaScript is a trademark of SUN Microsystems, Inc.  It was
 originally called LiveScript.  It has nothing to do with the Java
 language.
 The syntax for script use appears to be a Hyper Text Markup Language
 (HTML) comment so that browsers that do not support scripting will
 ignore such items.  That is, script use is preceded by "<!--" and
 terminated by "-->".  The following is a simple example of
 conditional execution of parts of a web page based on JavaScript MIME
 type handler detection.
 <SCRIPT LANGUAGE=JAVASCRIPT>
 <!-- hide it
 if (navigator.mimeTypes && navigator.mimeTypes.length > 0) {
   if ( navigator.mimeTypes["application/iotp"] ||
        navigator.mimeTypes["application/x-iotp"]) {
     // here if IOTP handler exists
     }
   else {
     // here if IOTP handler does not exist
     }
   }
 // end and hide -->
 </SCRIPT>

Eastlake, et al. Informational [Page 3] RFC 2936 HTTP MIME Type Handler Detection September 2000

4. ActiveX and the Windows Registry

 If running on Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer version 3 or 4, it
 is necessary to query the Windows Registry to determine local MIME
 type support.  Although these broswers support JavaScript, in v3 the
 mimeTypes array is not present and in v4 the mimeTypes array is
 present but always empty.  For example, executing the following code
 will test for support of the IOTP types:
 CString iotpString, xiotpString;
 char* Key, Keyx;
    int rc, rcx;
    iotpString =
 "SOFTWARE\Classes\MIME\Database\Content Type\application/iotp";
    xiotpString =
 "SOFTWARE\Classes\MIME\Database\Content Type\application/x-iotp";
    Key = iotpString.GetBuffer(1);
    Keyx = xiotpString.GetBuffer(1);
    rc = RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, Key, 0, KEY_READ, hDefKey);
    rcx = RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, Keyx, 0, KEY_READ, hDefKey);
 if ( ( rc  == ERROR_SUCCESS ) || ( rcx == ERROR_SUCCESS ) )
  {
  // IOTP Handler exists
  }
 else
  {
  // No IOTP Handler
  }
 NOTE: ActiveX is a trademark of Microsoft and was originally called
 Sweeper.

5. ECML, The Electronic Commerce Modeling Language

 A industry group has recently proposed a standard for fields used in
 electronic commerce.  This fields allow "wallet" software acting for
 the consumer to convey standardized information to a merchant,
 including information as to what payment related protocols are
 supported at the customer site.  See [ECML].

Eastlake, et al. Informational [Page 4] RFC 2936 HTTP MIME Type Handler Detection September 2000

6. Putting It All Together

 The following diagram indicates how these techniques can be put
 together.
 start>-----+
            |
    +------------------+
    | Was desired type |     NO      +-------------------------+
    |found in Accept?  |------------>| Is JavaScript available |
    +------------------+             |and does it show type?   |
          |                          +-------------------------+
     YES  |                            |         |           |
          |<---------------------------+         |        NO |
          |        YES                           |           |
          |                      +---<explorer<--+           |
          |                      |                           |
          |          +----------------------+                |
          |          | Is ActiveX available |                |
          |          |and does it show type?|                |
          |          +----------------------+                |
          |  YES       |        |         |             NO   |
          |<-----------+        |         +----------------->|
          |                     V                            |
 remember |               Indeterminate.            remember |
   that   |.              Take default             that type |
 type IS  |               action.                     is NOT |
 supported|                                        supported |
          X done                                             X

7. Future Development

 Active work is proceeding in the IETF, World Wide Web Consortium
 [W3C], and other standards and industry groups concerning content and
 capabilities negotiation.  This work is likely to lead to superior
 methods to implement the functionality described herein.  However,
 near universal deployment of such new standards/features will take
 some time.  Thus you should expect the methods given herein to be
 obsoleted, but perhaps not for some time.

8. Security Considerations

 It should be noted that the variety of ActiveX control suggested
 above is reading the user's registry, that is, examining their
 computer and reporting back some information it has discovered.  This
 may be a concern among some users.

Eastlake, et al. Informational [Page 5] RFC 2936 HTTP MIME Type Handler Detection September 2000

 In general, the use of JavaScript and, even more so, ActiveX is
 dangerous because they are so powerful.  JavaScript or ActiveX from a
 web page could be invisibly damaging to the client.
 Security of web interactions is normally provided by adopting channel
 encryption on the browser to server connections, such as [TLS].  In
 the absence of some such additional security outside of HTTP,
 requests and/or responses may be forged or tampered with.

9. IANA Considerations

 None specific to the techniques described herein.  For MIME types and
 type registration procedures, see [MIME: RFCs 2046, 2048].

References

 [ECML] Eastlake, D. and T. Goldstein, "ECML v1: Field Names for E-
        Commerce", RFC 2706, October 1999.
 [HTTP] Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R. and H. Frystyk, "Hypertext
        Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.0", RFC 1945, May 1996.
 [HTTP] Fielding, R., Gettys, J., Mogul, J., Frystyk, H., Masinter,
        L., Leach, P. and T. Berners-Lee, "Hypertext Transfer Protocol
        -- HTTP/1.1", RFC 2616, June 1999.
 [IOTP] Burdett, D., "Internet Open Trading Protocol - IOTP Version
        1.0", RFC 2801, April 2000.
 [MIME] Freed, N. and N. Borenstein, "Multipurpose Internet Mail
        Extensions (MIME) Part One: Format of Internet Message
        Bodies", RFC 2045, November 1996.
 [MIME] Freed, N. and N. Borenstein, "Multipurpose Internet Mail
        Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types", RFC 2046, November
        1996.
 [MIME] Moore, K., "MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part
        Three: Message Header Extensions for Non-ASCII Text", RFC
        2047, November 1996.
 [MIME] Freed, N., Klensin, J. and J. Postel, "Multipurpose Internet
        Mail Extensions (MIME) Part Four: Registration Procedures",
        RFC 2048, November 1996.

Eastlake, et al. Informational [Page 6] RFC 2936 HTTP MIME Type Handler Detection September 2000

 [SET]  "Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) Specification, Version
        1.0", May 31, 1997, available from <http://www.setco.org>.
           Book 1: Business Description
           Book 2: Programmer's Guide
           Book 3: Formal Protocol Definition
 [TLS]  Dierks, T. and C. Allen, "The TLS Protocol Version 1.0", RFC
        2246, January 1999.
 [W3C] World Wide Web Consortium, <www.w3.org>

Eastlake, et al. Informational [Page 7] RFC 2936 HTTP MIME Type Handler Detection September 2000

Appendix A: Browser Version Sniffer Code

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
<!-- hide JavaScript from non-JavaScript browsers
// Ultimate client-side JavaScript client sniff.
// (C) Netscape Communications 1999.
//     Permission granted to reuse and distribute.
// Revised 17 May 99 to add is_nav5up and is_ie5up (see below).
// Everything you always wanted to know about your JavaScript client
// but were afraid to ask. Creates "is_" variables indicating:
// (1) browser vendor:
//     is_nav, is_ie, is_opera
// (2) browser version number:
//     is_major (integer indicating major version number: 2, 3, 4 ...)
//     is_minor (float   indicating full  version number:
//                                               2.02, 3.01, 4.04 ...)
// (3) browser vendor AND major version number
//     is_nav2, is_nav3, is_nav4, is_nav4up, is_nav5, is_nav5up,
//     is_ie3, is_ie4, is_ie4up
// (4) JavaScript version number:
//     is_js (float indicating full JavaScript version number:
//                                                    1, 1.1, 1.2 ...)
// (5) OS platform and version:
//     is_win, is_win16, is_win32, is_win31,
//     is_win95, is_winnt, is_win98
//     is_os2
//     is_mac, is_mac68k, is_macppc
//     is_unix
//        is_sun, is_sun4, is_sun5, is_suni86
//        is_irix, is_irix5, is_irix6
//        is_hpux, is_hpux9, is_hpux10
//        is_aix, is_aix1, is_aix2, is_aix3, is_aix4
//        is_linux, is_sco, is_unixware, is_mpras, is_reliant
//        is_dec, is_sinix, is_freebsd, is_bsd
//     is_vms
//
// See http://www.it97.de/JavaScript/JS_tutorial/bstat/navobj.html and
// http://www.it97.de/JavaScript/JS_tutorial/bstat/Browseraol.html
// for detailed lists of userAgent strings.
//
// Note: you don't want your Nav4 or IE4 code to "turn off" or
// stop working when Nav5 and IE5 (or later) are released, so
// in conditional code forks, use is_nav4up ("Nav4 or greater")
// and is_ie4up ("IE4 or greater") instead of is_nav4 or is_ie4
// to check version in code which you want to work on future
// versions.

Eastlake, et al. Informational [Page 8] RFC 2936 HTTP MIME Type Handler Detection September 2000

// convert all characters to lowercase to simplify testing
var agt=navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase();
// *** BROWSER VERSION ***
// Note: On IE5, these return 4, so use is_ie5up to detect IE5.
var is_major = parseInt(navigator.appVersion);
var is_minor = parseFloat(navigator.appVersion);
// Note: Opera and WebTV spoof Navigator.  We do strict client
//  detection.  If you want to allow spoofing, take out the tests
//  for opera and webtv.
var is_nav  = ((agt.indexOf('mozilla')!=-1)
            && (agt.indexOf('spoofer')==-1)
            && (agt.indexOf('compatible') == -1)
            && (agt.indexOf('opera')==-1)
            && (agt.indexOf('webtv')==-1));
var is_nav2 = (is_nav && (is_major == 2));
var is_nav3 = (is_nav && (is_major == 3));
var is_nav4 = (is_nav && (is_major == 4));
var is_nav4up = (is_nav && (is_major >= 4));
var is_navonly      = (is_nav && ((agt.indexOf(";nav") != -1) ||
                      (agt.indexOf("; nav") != -1)) );
var is_nav5 = (is_nav && (is_major == 5));
var is_nav5up = (is_nav && (is_major >= 5));
var is_ie   = (agt.indexOf("msie") != -1);
var is_ie3  = (is_ie && (is_major < 4));
var is_ie4  = (is_ie && (is_major == 4)
                     && (agt.indexOf("msie 5.0")==-1) );
var is_ie4up  = (is_ie  && (is_major >= 4));
var is_ie5  = (is_ie && (is_major == 4)
                     && (agt.indexOf("msie 5.0")!=-1) );
var is_ie5up  = (is_ie  && !is_ie3 && !is_ie4);
// KNOWN BUG: On AOL4, returns false if IE3 is embedded browser
// or if this is the first browser window opened.  Thus the
// variables is_aol, is_aol3, and is_aol4 aren't 100% reliable.
var is_aol   = (agt.indexOf("aol") != -1);
var is_aol3  = (is_aol && is_ie3);
var is_aol4  = (is_aol && is_ie4);
var is_opera = (agt.indexOf("opera") != -1);
var is_webtv = (agt.indexOf("webtv") != -1);
// *** JAVASCRIPT VERSION CHECK ***
var is_js;
if (is_nav2 || is_ie3) is_js = 1.0
else if (is_nav3 || is_opera) is_js = 1.1

Eastlake, et al. Informational [Page 9] RFC 2936 HTTP MIME Type Handler Detection September 2000

else if ((is_nav4 && (is_minor <= 4.05)) || is_ie4) is_js = 1.2
else if ((is_nav4 && (is_minor > 4.05)) || is_ie5) is_js = 1.3
else if (is_nav5) is_js = 1.4
// NOTE: In the future, update this code when newer versions of JS
// are released. For now, we try to provide some upward compatibility
// so that future versions of Nav and IE will show they are at
// *least* JS 1.x capable. Always check for JS version compatibility
// with > or >=.
else if (is_nav && (is_major > 5)) is_js = 1.4
else if (is_ie && (is_major > 5)) is_js = 1.3
// HACK: no idea for other browsers;
//       always check for JS version with > or >=
else is_js = 0.0;
// *** PLATFORM ***
var is_win   = ( (agt.indexOf("win")!=-1) ||
                 (agt.indexOf("16bit")!=-1) );
// NOTE: On Opera 3.0, the userAgent string includes "Windows 95/NT4"
// on all Win32, so you can't distinguish between Win95 and WinNT.
var is_win95 = ((agt.indexOf("win95")!=-1) ||
                (agt.indexOf("windows 95")!=-1));
// is this a 16 bit compiled version?
var is_win16 = ((agt.indexOf("win16")!=-1) ||
           (agt.indexOf("16bit")!=-1) ||
           (agt.indexOf("windows 3.1")!=-1) ||
           (agt.indexOf("windows 16-bit")!=-1) );
var is_win31 = ((agt.indexOf("windows 3.1")!=-1) ||
                (agt.indexOf("win16")!=-1) ||
                (agt.indexOf("windows 16-bit")!=-1));
// NOTE: Reliable detection of Win98 may not be possible.
// It appears that:
//  - On Nav 4.x and before you'll get plain "Windows" in userAgent.
//  - On Mercury client, the 32-bit version will return "Win98", but
//    the 16-bit version running on Win98 will still return "Win95".
var is_win98 = ((agt.indexOf("win98")!=-1) ||
                (agt.indexOf("windows 98")!=-1));
var is_winnt = ((agt.indexOf("winnt")!=-1) ||
                (agt.indexOf("windows nt")!=-1));
var is_win32 = (is_win95 || is_winnt || is_win98 ||
                ((is_major >= 4) &&
                 (navigator.platform == "Win32")) ||
                (agt.indexOf("win32")!=-1) ||
                (agt.indexOf("32bit")!=-1));
var is_os2   = ((agt.indexOf("os/2")!=-1) ||

Eastlake, et al. Informational [Page 10] RFC 2936 HTTP MIME Type Handler Detection September 2000

                (navigator.appVersion.indexOf("OS/2")!=-1) ||
                (agt.indexOf("ibm-webexplorer")!=-1));
var is_mac    = (agt.indexOf("mac")!=-1);
var is_mac68k = (is_mac && ((agt.indexOf("68k")!=-1) ||
                           (agt.indexOf("68000")!=-1)));
var is_macppc = (is_mac && ((agt.indexOf("ppc")!=-1) ||
                            (agt.indexOf("powerpc")!=-1)));
var is_sun   = (agt.indexOf("sunos")!=-1);
var is_sun4  = (agt.indexOf("sunos 4")!=-1);
var is_sun5  = (agt.indexOf("sunos 5")!=-1);
var is_suni86= (is_sun && (agt.indexOf("i86")!=-1));
var is_irix  = (agt.indexOf("irix") !=-1);    // SGI
var is_irix5 = (agt.indexOf("irix 5") !=-1);
var is_irix6 = ((agt.indexOf("irix 6") !=-1) ||
                (agt.indexOf("irix6") !=-1));
var is_hpux  = (agt.indexOf("hp-ux")!=-1);
var is_hpux9 = (is_hpux && (agt.indexOf("09.")!=-1));
var is_hpux10= (is_hpux && (agt.indexOf("10.")!=-1));
var is_aix   = (agt.indexOf("aix") !=-1);      // IBM
var is_aix1  = (agt.indexOf("aix 1") !=-1);
var is_aix2  = (agt.indexOf("aix 2") !=-1);
var is_aix3  = (agt.indexOf("aix 3") !=-1);
var is_aix4  = (agt.indexOf("aix 4") !=-1);
var is_linux = (agt.indexOf("inux")!=-1);
var is_sco   = (agt.indexOf("sco")!=-1) ||
               (agt.indexOf("unix_sv")!=-1);
var is_unixware = (agt.indexOf("unix_system_v")!=-1);
var is_mpras    = (agt.indexOf("ncr")!=-1);
var is_reliant  = (agt.indexOf("reliantunix")!=-1);
var is_dec   = ((agt.indexOf("dec")!=-1) ||
       (agt.indexOf("osf1")!=-1) ||
       (agt.indexOf("dec_alpha")!=-1) ||
       (agt.indexOf("alphaserver")!=-1) ||
       (agt.indexOf("ultrix")!=-1) ||
       (agt.indexOf("alphastation")!=-1));
var is_sinix = (agt.indexOf("sinix")!=-1);
var is_freebsd = (agt.indexOf("freebsd")!=-1);
var is_bsd = (agt.indexOf("bsd")!=-1);
var is_unix  = ((agt.indexOf("x11")!=-1) || is_sun ||
             is_irix || is_hpux ||
             is_sco ||is_unixware || is_mpras || is_reliant ||
             is_dec || is_sinix || is_aix || is_linux ||
             is_bsd || is_freebsd);
var is_vms   = ((agt.indexOf("vax")!=-1) ||
                (agt.indexOf("openvms")!=-1));

Eastlake, et al. Informational [Page 11] RFC 2936 HTTP MIME Type Handler Detection September 2000

</SCRIPT>

Authors' Addresses

 Donald E. Eastlake 3rd
 Motorola
 140 Forest Avenue
 Hudson, MA 01749 USA
 Phone: +1 978-562-2827(h)
        +1 508-261-5434(w)
 Fax:   +1 508-261-4447(w)
 EMail: Donald.Eastlake@motorola.com
 Chris J. Smith
 Royal Bank of Canada
 277 Front Street West
 Toronto, Ontario M5V 3A4 CANADA
 Phone: +1 416-348-6090
 Fax:   +1 416-348-2210
 EMail: chris.smith@royalbank.com
 David M. Soroka
 IBM
 Raleigh, NC
 Phone: +1 919-486-2684
 Fax:   +1 919-543-4653
 EMail: dsoroka@us.ibm.com

Eastlake, et al. Informational [Page 12] RFC 2936 HTTP MIME Type Handler Detection September 2000

Full Copyright Statement

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2000).  All Rights Reserved.
 This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
 others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
 or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
 and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
 kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
 included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
 document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
 the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
 Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
 developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
 copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
 followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
 English.
 The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
 revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.
 This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
 "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
 TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
 BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
 HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
 MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Acknowledgement

 Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
 Internet Society.

Eastlake, et al. Informational [Page 13]

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