GET_AUTHENTICATION Procedure

This procedure retrieves the HTTP authentication information needed for the request to be accepted by the Web server as indicated in the HTTP response header.

Syntax

UTL_HTTP.get_authentication(

r  IN OUT NOCOPY resp,
scheme  OUT VARCHAR2,
realm  OUT VARCHAR2,
for_proxy  IN BOOLEAN  DEFAULT FALSE);

Parameters

Table 78-41 shows the parameters for the GET_AUTHENTICATION procedure.

Table 78-41 GET_AUTHENTICATION Procedure Parameters

Parameter	Description
r (IN/OUT)	The HTTP response.
scheme (OUT)	The scheme for the required HTTP authentication
realm (OUT)	The realm for the required HTTP authentication
for_proxy (IN)	Returns the HTTP authentication information required for the access to the HTTP proxy server instead of the Web server? Default is FALSE.

Usage Notes

When a Web client is unaware that a document is protected, at least two HTTP requests are required for the document to be retrieved. In the first HTTP request, the Web client makes the request without supplying required authentication information; so the request is denied. The Web client can determine the authentication information required for the request to be authorized by calling get_authentication. The Web client makes the second request and supplies the required authentication information with set_authorization. If the authentication information can be verified by the Web server, the request will succeed and the requested document is returned. Before making the request, if the Web client knows that authentication information is required, it can supply the required authentication information in the first request, thus saving an extra request.