[HTTPCORE-763] Behaviour of BasicHttpRequest wrt. path is inconsistent

• Type: Bug
• Status: Resolved
• Priority: Minor
• Resolution: Fixed
• Affects Version/s: 5.1, 5.2, 5.3-alpha1
• Fix Version/s: 5.3-alpha2
• Component/s: HttpCore
• Flags: Patch

Language

Java

• Assignee: Unassigned
• Reporter: Marco Bungart
• Created: 15/Jan/24 14:43
• Updated: 18/Jan/24 17:29
• Resolved: 15/Jan/24 16:31

Description

The Setter for path in BasicHttpRequest checks whether the parameter path starts with two slashes and - if so - throws an IllegalArgumentException (through the call to Args.check(...). Similarly, method setUri(...) checks the raw path from tur URI.

This leads to inconsistent behaviour. A constructor call like:

new BasicHttpRequest("GET", "http", URIAuthority.create("google.com"), "//search/asdf?q=foobar");

works fine, while a constructor call like:

new BasicHttpRequest("GET", "http", URIAuthority.create("google.com"), "doesNotMatter")
            .setPath("//search/asdf?q=foobar");

or

new BasicHttpRequest("GET", URI.create("https://www.google.com//search/asdf?q=foobar"));

throws an IllegalArgumentException.

The Class BasicHttpRequest was extended in commit 1614d5d and is present since.

I think what should happen is that the path should only be checked for // if the authority is not set since RFC 3986 in section 3 specifies:

   The scheme and path components are required, though the path may be
   empty (no characters).  When authority is present, the path must
   either be empty or begin with a slash ("/") character.  When
   authority is not present, the path cannot begin with two slash
   characters ("//").