Java Plug-In 1.2.2, SSL and RMI

Mr. Grinch (mrgrinch@airmail.net)
Fri, 04 Jun 1999 11:04:57 -0500

Date: Fri, 04 Jun 1999 11:04:57 -0500
From: "Mr. Grinch" <mrgrinch@airmail.net>
To: java-plugin-feedback@sun.com, rmi-comments@java.sun.com,
Subject: Java Plug-In 1.2.2, SSL and RMI

Based on the information in the 1.2.2 release notes:

<Yabba Dabba I Can Quote Too On>

Please notice that the URLConnection object returned from
url.openConnection() is type java.net.URLConnection, not
java.net.HttpURLConnection. As a result, the operations that can be
performed on this URLConnection object are
minimal.

The request and response headers are available in all versions of
Internet Explorer through one of the following
java.net.URLConnection methods:

getHeaderField
getContentEncoding
getContentLength
getContentType
getDate
getExpiration
getLastModified

Due to browser API limitations in Netscape, the request and response
headers are not available. Some of the methods
listed above (getContentType and getContentLength) will return some
information based on a "best guess" algorithm.

HTTPS usually goes through SSL (Secure socket layer) to make a secure
connection. While HTTPS is supported in Java
Plug-in and SSL is used internally, the API for accessing SSL is not
exposed in Java Plug-in. In order to access SSL
directly in the applet with Java Plug-in, an SSL Java Extension needs to
be installed in the system. If an SSL Java
Extension is installed with Java Plug-in, Java Plug-in will take
advantage of it to make secure connections instead of
using the browser's API. However, note that Java Plug-in currently does
not ship with an SSL Java Extension. To learn
more about an SSL Java Extension, please consult your Java security
vendor.

<Yabba Dabba I Can Quote Too Off>

I have the following questions:

1. Does this mean that RMI will not work (connect and be secure) using
SSL
and HTTP tunneling in the Netscape enviroment with the 1.2.2
plug-in?
Will it work in the Netscape environment?

2. Does this mean that RMI will not work (connect and be secure) using
SSL
and HTTP tunneling in the Internet Explorer enviroment with the
1.2.2 plug-in?
Will it work in the Internet Explorer environment?

3. Who makes an SSL Java Extension that will work with the 1.2.2 Java
Plug-In?
Sun ?

4. Where does HotJava fit in all this stuff?

Thanks in advance...