The content adaptation functions allow modules to inspect and modify requests and replies as they pass through the proxy cache. Since any portion of the transfer can be inspected and modified by the modules, the API provides a powerful mechanism to use the proxy cache in a variety of applications. For example, the proxy cache can be used as a component of a Content Distribution Network (CDN) by developing a module that inspects the user's requested URL and rewrites it or redirects it based on geographic information. In mobile environments where end users may have lower-resolution displays, an API module could reduce image resolution to save transmission bandwidth and computation/display time on low-power devices. Such modular solutions would consist of far less code and better defined interactions than modifications to open-source code.
As explained in Section 2, the mechanisms for the API are closely integrated with the processing of requests and responses in the HTTP protocol. In the HTTP protocol, requests and responses have a well-defined structure, shown in Figure 3. Each consists of a header block with a special request/response line followed by a variable number of header lines, and then a variable-length data block.
The content adaptation interfaces allow modules to specify entry points that are called when the proxy handles the various portions of the requests and responses. Some of the entry points are called only when a particular portion is complete (e.g., when all of the response headers have been received), while others are called multiple times (e.g., as each piece of body data is received on a cache miss). For example, a module could provide routines that examine and modify the first line of each request and the full contents of each response that pass through the proxy.
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The API includes header processing routines that allow searching for particular HTTP headers, adding new headers, deleting existing headers, and declaring that the current set of headers is completed and may be sent on. These routines provide a simple and flexible interface for the module to customize the HTTP-level behavior of the request, in isolation or in conjunction with transformation of the content body. This approach also insulates the modules from the details of the HTTP protocol, shifting the burden of providing infrastructure onto the proxy. Table 1 lists the routines provided for header and body manipulation.
The cache may also store modified content, allowing it to be served without requiring adaptation processing on future requests. This can be accomplished by registering interest in the arrival of the response header, and modifying the cache control header appropriately, causing the proxy cache to store the modified content if it would not be stored by default. When content adaptation is performed based on features of the client's request, the module can use the HTTP Vary header to indicate multiple variant responses cached for the same URL.