Permanent and temporary cookies, Cookie formats – Nortel Networks WEB OS 212777 User Manual

Page 425

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Web OS 10.0 Application Guide

Chapter 16: Persistence

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425

212777-A, February 2002

The following topics discussing cookie-based persistence are detailed in this section:

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“Permanent and Temporary Cookies” on page 425

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“Cookie Formats” on page 425

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“Cookie Properties” on page 426

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“Client Browsers that Do Not Accept Cookies” on page 426

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“Cookie Modes of Operation” on page 427

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“Configuring Cookie-Based Persistence” on page 430

Permanent and Temporary Cookies

Cookies can either be permanent or temporary. A permanent cookie is stored on the client's
browser, as part of the response from a Web site’s server. It will be sent by the browser when
the client makes subsequent requests to the same site, even after the browser has been shut
down. A temporary cookie is only valid for the current browser session. Similar to a SSL Ses-
sion-based ID, the temporary cookie expires when you shut down the browser. Based on RFC
2109, any cookie without an expiration date is a temporary cookie.

Cookie Formats

A cookie can be defined in the HTTP header (the recommended method) or placed in the URL
for hashing. The cookie is defined as a “Name=Value” pair and can appear along with other
parameters and cookies. For example, the cookie “

SessionID=1234

” can be represented in

one of the following ways:

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In the HTTP Header

Cookie: SesssionID=1234

Cookie: ASP_SESSIONID=POIUHKJHLKHD

Cookie: name=john_smith

The second cookie represents an Active Server Page (ASP) session ID. The third cookie
represents an application-specific cookie that records the name of the client.

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Within the URL

http://www.mysite.com/reservations/SessionID=1234

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