Subject: TSP 4: socket protocol negPollRep message type

From: Lewis McCarthy <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 03 Dec 1999 15:54:40 -0800

Hi,

I'm trying to understand the purpose of the socket-based protocol's negPollRep
message type in draft-...-time-stamp-04.  I gather that the message type was
copied from the CMP spec to the TSP draft.  CMP section 5.2 specifies an
intended usage of negPollRep messages:

       "Where a PKIConfirm message is to be transported (always from the
       initiator to the responder) then a pkiMsg message is sent and a
       negPollRep is returned."

However I don't see a situation in TSP where a negPollRep message would be
needed.  The draft states that a negPollRep is a valid reply to a tsaMsg or a
pollReq.  But a message indicating normal completion of the transaction -- with
no additional information included -- doesn't appear useful in response to a
TimeStampReq tsaMsg or a pollReq.  If the client is asking for further
information, then the TSA should furnish further information or signal an error.

Could negPollRep be removed from the TSP socket protocol?

Regards
-Lewis McCarthy
[email-masked]