Thus it was written in the epistle of Bruce Toback,
>
>    If-Modified-Since: Wed, 08 Mar 2000 16:47:02 GMT; length=5328
>
> What the heck is this "length" stuff? It's always the length of the file
> the last time it was fetched, but how am I supposed to interpret it?
> Obviously, if 95% of the world's web browsers send it, I can't regard the
> header as invalid (which is what I was doing), but does anyone know how
> this should be used? It's certainly not part of the RFC.

Bruce,
  I think it's mostly a backup-check sort of thing.  You should send the file
if it has been modified since the time given or if the current length is not
the length given (for example, if the client's cached copy is, for some reason,
only a partial copy of the file).

Ted
--
Ted Ashton ([log in to unmask]), Info Sys, Southern Adventist University
          ==========================================================
When an investigator has developed a formula which gives a complete
representation of the phenomena within a certain range, he may be prone to
satisfaction.  Would it not be wiser if he would say, "Foiled again! I can find
out no more about Nature along this line."
                                        -- Eddington, Sir Arthur (1882-1944)