[jcifs] Re: SMB URL encoding/decoding

[Christopher R. Hertel]

Michael B Allen wrote:
> 
> On Sun, 24 Feb 2002 02:35:09 +0100
> James Nord <teilo at teilo.net> wrote:
> 
> > >Let's not loose the focus of the real problem here though. SMB
> > >servers allow the '@' sign but the various URL RFC's do not.
> > >
> > As do HTTP servers - FTP servers...  why is the smb url the special
> case?
> 
> I mean in general the other schemes don't support '@' in the path
> without escaping it (except in this case of FTP that you cited?). I'm
> not familiar with the intimate details but it seems to me the '@' is
> creating a special case for the SMB URL and if we can just dodge this
> one thing we can dump all the escaping (or at least you don't *have* to
> URL encode).

I think you are both right to some extent here.  Generally speaking an '@'
char is in the <reserved> set and should typically by escaped.  However...

      net_path      = "//" authority [ abs_path ]
      abs_path      = "/"  path_segments
      rel_path      = rel_segment [ abs_path ]

      path          = [ abs_path | opaque_part ]
      path_segments = segment *( "/" segment )
      segment       = *pchar *( ";" param )
      param         = *pchar
      pchar         = unreserved | escaped |
                      ":" | "@" | "&" | "=" | "+" | "$" | ","

According to all that mess, the "@" is a legal pchar, and path strings are
made up of pchars.  So... Yes, the "@" may be used unescaped in a path.

Captain Pedantic -)-----

-- 
Samba Team -- http://www.samba.org/     -)-----   Christopher R. Hertel
jCIFS Team -- http://jcifs.samba.org/   -)-----   ubiqx development, uninq.
ubiqx Team -- http://www.ubiqx.org/     -)-----   crh at ubiqx.mn.org