Name: tb29552 Date: 09/19/97


According to the current spec. URL.getContent() returns
"Returns the contents of this URL." I think this description
is too vague. For example:

   For gif files, Sun's JDK returns an instance of ImageFileSource, while
   Microsoft's JDK returns an instance of Image class. While MS's implementation
   is closer to the desired effect then Sun's neither is wrong, since both return
   the file content in one form or another.

This behavior results in a Java code which is:
   1) specific to a particular JDK implementation.
   2) not easily ported to a new platform.
   3) not guarantied to work on an arbitrary platform.

A new specification should be devised that assures consistent results from the
URL.getContent() call.
company - UCSD , email - ###@###.###
======================================================================