AS2 = Email & HTTP

Hi all,

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Question:

Could AS2 be restated as: Email messages sent/received using HTTP protocol?

AS2  =  Email + Security + Web server + Web browser

Example, To Send:
1. Use all the normal email standards to create the email message file,
2. then use the an HTTP "POST" to send the file.
3. Then once recieved, use all the normal email standards to "decode" the email
message file.
4. To know what kind of file you have received, check the MIME type (e.g.
EDIX12-850 means you have received an X12-850 purchase order document), then
process appropriately.

** If this is the case, GREAT!
This allows us to use all our current programs (technologies) to securely and
confidentially: send, receive and process documents through firewalls that have
an HTTP opening.

Use:
1. Our email (SMTP) client to create "email file messages"
2. Our batch oreinted "Browser" client to send the "email file messages" using
HTTP POST.
3. Our web server (HTTP) to receive documents
4. * Here we need to write a plugin or cgi to pass the file to the email client.

5. Our email (POP) client would decode the "email file messages" as it would any
email message.
6. We already have the programs to process the files based on sender, receiver
and MIME type.
7. Our email client can create an "MDN file message".
8. * Here we need to write a program to pass the "MDN file message" to the batch
oreinted "Browser" client that would send the "MDN file message" using HTTP
POST.
9. Repeat steps 3, 4, 5 and 6

*** And all of our current security programs remain the same (e.g. SMIME,
digital signatures and encryption).

File - Email client - Batch web browser - Internet - Web server - Email client -
File

This will be easy for us to create an AS2 peer to peer system :)

Thanks for the conversations,
Stacy Thurston, iPlanet (SUN|Netscape) Product Manager
http://www.iplanet.com/products/ecommerce/ecxpert/ecxpert.html

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Background:

I work with a product dedicated to sending & receiving documents.  We add
communication "agents" (programs/connectors) to do the sending and receiving.

Example:
* "Browser" client to send documents
* HTTP server to receive documents
* POP client to get documents
* FTP client to get and put documents

We have found that:
1. Email messaging standards are adequate to send/receive/process documents:
* SMTP/POP, multipart, SMIME, digital signatures & RSA encryption
* Note, mulitpart is rich enough to allow us to tell what kind of file is being
sent to us, i.e. MIME type is the document type.
2. And the HTTP protocol is adequate for file transport.

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