Functions responsible for interpreting and processing messages in some recognized transmission protocols are encapsulated in a dynamic library referred to as a protocol handler. IWSVA provides a choice of either an ICAP protocol handler, which enables IWSVA to act as an ICAP server, or an HTTP proxy handler, wherein IWSVA acts like a direct HTTP proxy server.

The application binary is independent of the protocol handler, allowing the same application to support different protocols with a configuration change. Provide the complete path of the active configuration file of the protocol in /etc/iscan/intscan.ini.

Protocol handlers require their own specific configuration files, which contain entries that pertain to only that protocol. These protocol configuration files are denoted by a ".pni" filename extension.