Week 10
As I started modyfing Jabberzilla I noticed that I cannot write much unless I know how the “HTTP-Client” part will be done. So I had to think about that.
First I have to mention, that there is still no decision from JSF regarding possible changes to the JEP… So there were two possible ways:
- extend existing schemes by using magical “xmpp” realm name (as in the current JEP)
- create new XMPP auth scheme (as proposed by some people)
New scheme is attractive from implementor’s point of view: it can be easily done as Firefox extension. Modyfing existing schemes would require more hacking. On the other hand, I wouldn’t like to re-implement all Digest auth logic already present in Firefox.
The first idea was: create new scheme, but reuse the code.
Second idea: actually call methods of existing auth components in my new component.
And the best idea came at the end: Firefox selects auth component by authentication scheme. So now… why not trick it that - for example - Basic with realm="xmpp" is actually a different scheme, let’s say XMPP-Basic?
So, I wrote a handler for new scheme(s), and then added a small rewrite tool that changes WWW-Authenticate headers on the fly 
Maybe sounds easy, but it took me much time to invent, and required to read really much…
BTW: I really recommend XUL Planet if you’re planning to code something for Mozilla.
Plans for next week
- Make my Great Solution work (yes, I have some code already, but it’s rather a prototype)
- Make it work together with Jabberzilla