FYI:
 
http://home.mcom.com/newsref/std/cookie_spec.html
 
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I have an article coming out in the July INTERACT about saving state between
client and server using an index stored on the WWW server and client (we use
this technique for authenticated GOPHER now - embed a state object "cookie"
into the gopher selector string that is an index to "user state" stored on
the server - the technique requires all menus to be generated by a program.)
 
Well, like I told Connie Wright, the Web spec changes so fast that I was
afraid a new feature of HTML might overshadow the original ideas in the
article - it happened (I did mention that proposals were in the works.)
 
Netscape calls them "cookies", which I guess is Unix talk for tokens or
indexes to user (saved) environment information on the server.
 
The feedback on the Web newsreaders say the preliminary protocol is unstable
- but the first step is now being made to integrate session like
transactions supported under the Web (a stateless) protocol by saving and
re-activating variables located on the server and indexed on the Netscape
client as "cookies". The spec calls for 300 cookies total or 20 per server
that can be active (stored) on the client.
 
The "cookie" spec looks like that - a spec.  _code_ must be written or you
need to surf around to someone who has something working.  "cookies" are
supported on the server in the form of CGI script.  Netscape is doing the
client part, of course.
 
This spec eliminates the need to "hide" cookies within form bodies and the
spec can support "normal" HTML body types - my original idea does not
(always had to use a type of "form" to hide cookies so they could be sent back)
 
See Mcom's page (above) for more info.
 
If anyone finds some CGI code and gets it working on a 3k, please share!  We
will probably implement it on a Sun first.  I don't have my 3k perl port
unloaded yet or tested - gee, another thing to do :-(.
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Eric J Schubert               Senior Data Base Analyst
Admin Information Services    Univ of Notre Dame, IN USA
(219) 631-7306                http://www.nd.edu/~eschuber