Socket class and browser's proxy settings

[sneakyimp]

I wrote a client in AS3 that connects via socket to a server written in PHP. I received a somewhat cryptic request from a Russian developer about proxy settings that I honestly cannot answer:

"I am not an expert in the flash. But as far as I know, in the flash there are different types of sockets. And not for every socket flash client will initiate a connection through the proxy settings of your browser. Guaranteed via proxy will work rtmpt sockets. May by http sockets too."

I'm not sure but I think he's asking if my client will use the the proxy settings from one's browser. I've never had the pain or privelege of using proxy settings, so I'm at a loss to provide any answer. I suspect the answer to this question is not yes or no but rather a lengthy discourse.


If anyone could shed some light on this or point me to some helpful reading on how the flash Socket class might interact with one's proxy settings, I would be very grateful. I could also use some remedial studies in the the browser/proxy concept too.

[joshstrike]

With mozilla, proxies are only used on the ports you specify [*edit: what I mean is, you have options as far as what you want the browser to send to a proxy. I mainly use FF so this is what I can tell you.] If you set up a SOCKS proxy, then all socket connections would be routed through that -- including, I'm almost positive, any socket connection originating from a Flash program. If you only set up an HTTP proxy, then only communications with HTTP headers going to port 80 somewhere would be sent through it.

The browser proxy settings are the first line of defense and can be supplemented by the network settings on the machine or the router. Similar situation there.

Best way to find out is to download Tor or Privoxy, set it up in your browser and test it against your server...