Parse an HTTP request Authorization header with Python

Question

I need to take a header like this:

 Authorization: Digest qop=\"chap\",
     realm=\"testrealm@host.com\",
     username=\"Foobear\",
     response=\"6629fae         


        

Answer 1

The http digest Authorization header field is a bit of an odd beast. Its format is similar to that of rfc 2616's Cache-Control and Content-Type header fields, but just different enough to be incompatible. If you're still looking for a library that's a little smarter and more readable than the regex, you might try removing the Authorization: Digest part with str.split() and parsing the rest with parse_dict_header() from Werkzeug's http module. (Werkzeug can be installed on App Engine.)