Is there any accepted naming convention for custom http headers in an in-house web application?
in-house in the strict sense means that requests with this header will never be transmitted over the public internet. in-house in a liberal sense means that while requests may be transferred over the public internet the server endpoint will always be a machine under control of a specific vendor.
i am aware of this SO article and the RFC 6648.
However, the reasoning forwarded in the latter reference does not quite convince me as it says:
2. SHOULD employ meaningful parameter names that they have reason to
believe are currently unused.
3. SHOULD NOT prefix their parameter names with "X-" or similar
constructs.
Well, X-<meaningful_name> conveys the semantics suggested by <meaningful_name> + the information that this header has neither been assigned by nor registered with an official standard maintaining authority, so the items 2., 3. appear a bit contradictory.
Of course, I could use other monikers like Vnd- or a company/product name prefix or even a customary term like Foo-. the arguments against the X- prefix would still apply, however.
On the other hand, just using a 'meaningful name' invites future collisions with the same term being endorsed by an official standard or some other company whose products will become part of the processing pipeline.
ps: apologies if this question is considered overly unspecific. I'll be happy to move it to some other more suitable venue.
