[XML-SIG] file urls in urllib

[Martin v. Loewis]

> I think we should come to an agreement with the maintainer of the
> urllib about the allowed forms for file: schemes.  It's mainly on
> Windows (and, perhaps, Macs) that there would be a problem.  My
> preferred forms are these, for a file

> at d:\temp\python\thefile.xml -
> 
> 1) file:///d:/temp/python/thefile.xml
> 
> 2) file:///d:\temp\python\thefile.xml

While there appears certainly to be a need to change something, it is
not clear to me how we should come to an agreement. It seems that
there is already agreement on the fact that file URLs have a
system-specific syntax, so we can easily do NT/Win/DOS independently
from Mac, and that independently from Unix.

It also seems that for Unix, it "works" most of the time; focus should
probably be on Windows. Now, since file: works in a system dependent
manner, I'd look to the operating system manufacturer for
guidance. Does MS have any documentation on how file: URLs are
supposed to work? Does their software behave in a consistent way in
that matter? If so, I'd say it is safest to copy what MS does.

I can see the point of your proposal, and I agree it is in the spirit
of the RFC. I'd avoid implementing it until it can be established that
MS software works in the same way.

Regards,
Martin