What to return when range HTTP header requests last byte of file?

Question

I need to handle the Range header programatically in Java for supporting media files on iOS.

If my file is 23843 bytes, for example, I'm getting a request with a range header:

Range: bytes 23842-23842

What am I meant to return in this case? Is it just the last byte of the file?

nmaier · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-04 06:03:10Z

1

You should send the file from offset 23842 to offset 23842, so yes, that comes out as one byte.

The spec actually gives a similar example:

The first and last bytes only (bytes 0 and 9999): bytes=0-0,-1

(The important bit here being that 0-0 = first byte)

answered Sep 4, 2013 at 6:03

nmaier

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2 Comments

Interestingly, iOS makes a request for 0-1 as the first request which is also the first bit. That's what threw me off.

0-1 are the first two bytes.