Re: MIME type parameters

On 08/01/14 01:22 PM, Benjamin Smedberg wrote:
> On 1/8/14 2:27 PM, Jack Bates wrote:
>> I looked up the documented version selection behavior because I didn't
>> know if this was correct or not. It says a request to launch an applet
>> on a specific JRE version (for example, a particular update release
>> like "1.5.0_11") should fall back on the latest available JRE on the
>> machine.
 >
> I believe that the Oracle docs are irrelevant to this case. In practice,
> if you try to launch with a specific JRE version and that is not the
> current version (not a MIME type specified by the plugin), we don't find
> the plugin. This is our intended behavior and is not likely to change.
>
> I'm about 99% sure that there is no difference between Windows and Linux
> here.

I understand that the current and intended Firefox behavior is
1) to match MIME type parameters literally
(e.g. application/basic-example-plugin !=
application/basic-example-plugin;foo=bar)
and 2) when content uses
application/x-java-applet;jpi-version=1.6.0_06
and the Java plugin registers
application/x-java-applet
(and application/x-java-applet;jpi-version=1.6.0_50)
do not find the plugin
(the Oracle documentation is irrelevant to this case).

I don't know the rationale in favor of this behavior
(is it the correct or the best behavior?)

e.g. The behavior in Chromium is to match MIME types when each parameter 
in the type registered by the plugin is matched by a parameter in the 
type from the content.

https://code.google.com/p/chromium/codesearch#chromium/src/net/base/mime_util.cc&l=545

A point in favor of this behavior is that in Chrome (on Windows and 
Linux) the Oracle Forms webapp "just works" whereas Firefox (on the same 
host) complains to the user "A plugin is needed to display this content."

I propose changing the Firefox behavior so that it does work, too.
(But I don't know the rationale in favor of retaining the current 
intended behavior.)