Name: gm110360 Date: 08/20/2003


A DESCRIPTION OF THE REQUEST :
When you open a web page in your browser that runs an applet using the java plug-in, the plug-in creates a new http connection in order to download the class files etc. causing multiple and serious problems:

1. If you are using a proxy, the plug-in prompts for user and password.
2. If you access the web page using https with client authentication it JUST DOESN'T WORK.

With plug-in versions 1.3 and previous class files were downloaded using the browser's connection and everything worked fine (no matter http, https, or https with client certificate authentication).

Many people are finding this problem (all developers using the java plug-in) and workarounds like loading the client certificate in a keystore are just not an option for many applications.

What me and many other people are asking for is MAKE IT WORK AS IT DID BEFORE. If you want to make the plug-in capable of downloading classfiles through a new connection make it OPTIONAL and CONFIGURABLE.

Downloading classfiles through e new connection may me useful in some situations but for the vast majority of us it is just a NIGHTMARE.

JUSTIFICATION :
With current version of the plug-in nobody will ever be able to use applets in a web server using https with client authentication.

EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
Applets should download the applet's class files using the browser's connection (no matter http, https or https with client authentication). Just as it did in previous versions of the plug-in and transparent for the user.

Using a new connection might be an option that can be activated through control panel.
ACTUAL -
Java plug-in creates a new connection in order to download an Applet's class files. In many situations this causes the inconvenience of re-entering user and password (proxy) and if https with client certificate authentication is used it just doest work.



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Any applet causes this problem, actual source code is not relevant.
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CUSTOMER SUBMITTED WORKAROUND :
  To my knowldge there are no workarounds.
(Incident Review ID: 185369)
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