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nidhijaju merged 6 commits into from
Jan 14, 2026
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Use table for comparison examples #3371

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Use table to display examples
nidhijaju Dec 18, 2025
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code font the URIs
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55 changes: 10 additions & 45 deletions draft-ietf-httpbis-no-vary-search.md
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -371,51 +371,16 @@ Due to how the application/x-www-form-urlencoded parser canonicalizes query stri

So, for example, given any non-default value for `No-Vary-Search`, such as `No-Vary-Search: key-order`, we will have the following equivalences:

{: newline="true"}
<dl>
<dt>
<tt>https://example.com</tt><br>
<tt>https://example.com/?</tt>
</dt>
<dd>A null query is parsed the same as an empty string</dd>

<dt>
<tt>https://example.com/?a=x</tt><br>
<tt>https://example.com/?%61=%78</tt>
</dt>
<dd>Parsing performs percent-decoding</dd>

<dt>
<tt>https://example.com/?a=é</tt><br>
<tt>https://example.com/?a=%C3%A9</tt>
</dt>
<dd>Parsing performs percent-decoding</dd>

<dt>
<tt>https://example.com/?a=%f6</tt><br>
<tt>https://example.com/?a=%ef%bf%bd</tt>
</dt>
<dd>Both values are parsed as U+FFFD (�)</dd>

<dt>
<tt>https://example.com/?a=x&&&&</tt><br>
<tt>https://example.com/?a=x</tt>
</dt>
<dd>Parsing splits on <tt>&</tt> and discards empty strings</dd>

<dt>
<tt>https://example.com/?a=</tt><br>
<tt>https://example.com/?a</tt>
</dt>
<dd>Both parse as having an empty string value for <tt>a</tt></dd>

<dt>
<tt>https://example.com/?a=%20</tt><br>
<tt>https://example.com/?a=+</tt><br>
<tt>https://example.com/?a= &</tt>
</dt>
<dd><tt>+</tt> and <tt>%20</tt> are both parsed as U+0020 SPACE</dd>
</dl>
| Query A &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; | Query B &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; | Reason for Equivalence |
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@martinthomson martinthomson Jan 6, 2026

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I don't think that you need the &nbsp; stuff.

This is what I get with it:

     +===================+==============+============================+
     | Query A           | Query        | Reason for Equivalence     |
     |                   | B            |                            |
     +===================+==============+============================+
     | null              | ?            | A null query is parsed the |
     |                   |              | same as an empty string    |
     +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------+
     | ?a=x              | ?%61=%78     | Parsing performs percent-  |
     |                   |              | decoding                   |
     +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------+
     | ?a=é              | ?a=%C3%A9    | Parsing performs percent-  |
     |                   |              | decoding                   |
     +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------+
     | ?a=%f6            | ?a=%ef%bf%bd | Both values are parsed as  |
     |                   |              | U+FFFD (�)                 |
     +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------+
     | ?a=x&&&&          | ?a=x         | Parsing splits on & and    |
     |                   |              | discards empty strings     |
     +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------+
     | ?a=               | ?a           | Both parse as having an    |
     |                   |              | empty string value for a   |
     +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------+
     | ?a=%20            | ?a= &        | %20 is parsed as U+0020    |
     |                   |              | SPACE                      |
     +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------+
     | ?a=+              | ?a= &        | + is parsed as U+0020      |
     |                   |              | SPACE                      |
     +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------+

And without:

         +==========+==============+============================+
         | Query A  | Query B      | Explanation                |
         +==========+==============+============================+
         | null     | ?            | A null query is parsed the |
         |          |              | same as an empty string    |
         +----------+--------------+----------------------------+
         | ?a=x     | ?%61=%78     | Parsing performs percent-  |
         |          |              | decoding                   |
         +----------+--------------+----------------------------+
         | ?a=é     | ?a=%C3%A9    | Parsing performs percent-  |
         |          |              | decoding                   |
         +----------+--------------+----------------------------+
         | ?a=%f6   | ?a=%ef%bf%bd | Both values are parsed as  |
         |          |              | U+FFFD (�)                 |
         +----------+--------------+----------------------------+
         | ?a=x&&&& | ?a=x         | Parsing splits on & and    |
         |          |              | discards empty strings     |
         +----------+--------------+----------------------------+
         | ?a=      | ?a           | Both parse as having an    |
         |          |              | empty string value for a   |
         +----------+--------------+----------------------------+
         | ?a=%20   | ?a= &        | %20 is parsed as U+0020    |
         |          |              | SPACE                      |
         +----------+--------------+----------------------------+
         | ?a=+     | ?a= &        | + is parsed as U+0020      |
         |          |              | SPACE                      |
         +----------+--------------+----------------------------+

I think that the latter is better.

Suggested change
| Query A &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; | Query B &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; | Reason for Equivalence |
| Query A | Query B | Explanation |

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@nidhijaju nidhijaju Jan 6, 2026

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I updated to remove some of the extra spaces in the first column, so if you look at the generated HTML, this is what it looks like with:
Screenshot 2026-01-06 at 14 57 26
and what it looks like without any &nbsp;:
Screenshot 2026-01-06 at 14 49 02

The first one seemed preferable, and generated .txt version looks okay too:

      +===========+===================+============================+
      | Query A   | Query B           | Explanation                |
      +===========+===================+============================+
      | null      | ?                 | A null query is parsed the |
      |           |                   | same as an empty string    |
      +-----------+-------------------+----------------------------+
      | ?a=x      | ?%61=%78          | Parsing performs percent-  |
      |           |                   | decoding                   |
      +-----------+-------------------+----------------------------+
      | ?a=é      | ?a=%C3%A9         | Parsing performs percent-  |
      |           |                   | decoding                   |
      +-----------+-------------------+----------------------------+
      | ?a=%f6    | ?a=%ef%bf%bd      | Both values are parsed as  |
      |           |                   | U+FFFD (�)                 |
      +-----------+-------------------+----------------------------+
      | ?a=x&&&&  | ?a=x              | Parsing splits on & and    |
      |           |                   | discards empty strings     |
      +-----------+-------------------+----------------------------+
      | ?a=       | ?a                | Both parse as having an    |
      |           |                   | empty string value for a   |
      +-----------+-------------------+----------------------------+
      | ?a=%20    | ?a= &             | %20 is parsed as U+0020    |
      |           |                   | SPACE                      |
      +-----------+-------------------+----------------------------+
      | ?a=+      | ?a= &             | + is parsed as U+0020      |
      |           |                   | SPACE                      |
      +-----------+-------------------+----------------------------+

|-------------+-----------------+-----------------------------------------------------|
| null | `?` | A null query is parsed the same as an empty string |
| `?a=x` | `?%61=%78` | Parsing performs percent-decoding |
| `?a=é` | `?a=%C3%A9` | Parsing performs percent-decoding |
| `?a=%f6` | `?a=%ef%bf%bd` | Both values are parsed as U+FFFD (�) |
| `?a=x&&&&` | `?a=x` | Parsing splits on `&` and discards empty strings |
| `?a=` | `?a` | Both parse as having an empty string value for `a` |
| `?a=%20` | `?a= &` | `%20` is parsed as U+0020 SPACE |
| `?a=+` | `?a= &` | `+` is parsed as U+0020 SPACE |

# Caching {#caching}

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