Subject: RE: Capability detection (was: "Wallet" Detection)

From: "Smith, Chris" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 11:46:00 -0500

I think what was intended was something like the following:

If the following short script is included in any form that a merchant 
sends to a consumer, when the form returns it may then also include a 
setting that shows the presence of 'application/iotp' MIME handling.

!---------------------------------------
 <SCRIPT LANGUAGE=JAVASCRIPT>
 <!-- hide it
 if (navigator.appName=="netscape") {  // wise precaution
   if (navigator.mimeTypes["application/iotp"]) {
     document.write("<INPUT TYPE=HIDDEN NAME='iotp' VALUE='y'>")
     }
   else {
     document.write("<INPUT TYPE=HIDDEN NAME='iotp' VALUE='n'>")
     }
   }
 // end and hide -->
 </SCRIPT>
!---------------------------------------

Note that this only works for Netscape browsers past version 3 with
JavaScript 
enabled. However, it should not interfere with any other techniques that
might 
be used in other browsers. It should also not interfere with any other 
e-commerce system detection techniques.

Note that the script will return either a definitive 'y' or 'n' - if the 
script does not run, then there is no setting returned at all. 

I've been looking for a succint solution for the other major browser for
about 
15 months now, and I have yet to see anything that does the job. Is it
really 
that hard to do in MSIE? 

...Chris Smith
   Royal Bank
   416.348.6090

______________________________ Reply Separator
_________________________________
Subject: Re: Capability detectio9n (was: "Wallet" Detection)
Author:  "Donald E. Eastlake 3rd" [SMTP:[email-masked]] at Internet
Date:    1999-03-17 02:55

"conneg" seems to be primarily concerned with future development in 
how to negotiate the form of delivered information, not its type.
As such, I don't see how it is relevant to designing a workable technique 
for near term implementation.  Even if a new standards track document 
popped out soon, it could be long time before it is ceployed.

"rescap" doesn't seem to be on the IETF web pages right now.

Thanks,
Donald

From:  Graham Klyne <[email-masked]>
Message-Id:  <[email-masked]> 
X-Sender:  [email-masked]
Date:  Tue, 16 Mar 1999 21:47:10 +0000
To:  "Donald E. Eastlake 3rd" <[email-masked]> 
Cc:  [email-masked]

>At 11:37 14/03/99 -0500, Donald E. Eastlake 3rd wrote: 
>>
>>For the Internet Open Trading Protocol and similar protocols operating 
>>via HTTP, web servers are frequently faced with the problem of 
>>determining whether software to handle the protocol they wish to use 
>>is installed at the user's browser/machine.  This frequently means 
>>finding out if a particular MIME type, such as application/iotp, is 
>>being handled.
>
>I would suggest that the work of the 'conneg' group might be surveyed for 
>possibly useful components (including some recent I-D submissions).
>
>Also, the 'rescap' group's work might prove to have some relevance. 
>
>#g
>
>------------
>Graham Klyne
>([email-masked])
>
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---

From: Graham Klyne <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 22:16:20 +0000

>popped out soon, it could be long time before it is ceployed.

It is true that the primary focus of 'conneg' has been media features, of
which MIME content-type is but one aspect.  I was reacting to a posting
which I understood to imply a way of determining whether a particular MIME
type was acceptable to a particular recipient.

Standards track documents covering feature registration and composing
syntax have been published (just).  I am proposing a feature tag
registration for MIME content-type at this week's WG meeting.  I accept
that maybe it's overkill for your purpose, but felt it worth pointing out.

Use of the basic feature description syntax is not dependent upon
deployment of other services, any more than, say, MIME or XML.  It's a way
of describing certain things.

>"rescap" doesn't seem to be on the IETF web pages right now.

It is still at the pre-WG stage.  So I guess deployment would be a problem
here, even if it were appropriate to your requirements.

#g

------------
Graham Klyne
([email-masked])

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 15:22:32 -0500

Chris,

Yes, that is essentially the way to do it if you have those JavaScript
facilities available.  I think for IE, you need to use ActiveX to query the
Registry.

Donald

Donald E. Eastlake, 3rd
17 Skyline Drive, Hawthorne, NY 10532 USA
[email-masked]   tel: 1-914-784-7913, fax: 1-914-784-3833
Notes: Donald Eastlake/Hawthorne/IBM@IBMUS

home: 65 Shindegan Hill Road, RR#1, Carmel, NY 10512 USA
[email-masked]   tel: 1-914-276-2668

"Smith, Chris" <[email-masked]> on 03/17/99 11:46:00 AM

To:   Graham Klyne <[email-masked]>, "Donald E. Eastlake 3rd"
      <[email-masked]>
cc:   "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]> (bcc: Donald
      Eastlake/Hawthorne/IBM)
Subject:  RE: Capability detection (was: "Wallet" Detection)

...Chris Smith
   Royal Bank
   416.348.6090

______________________________ Reply Separator
_________________________________
Subject: Re: Capability detectio9n (was: "Wallet" Detection)
Author:  "Donald E. Eastlake 3rd" [SMTP:[email-masked]] at
Internet
Date:    1999-03-17 02:55

Thanks,
Donald