- From: Jim Whitehead <ejw@soe.ucsc.edu>
- Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2006 16:14:31 -0700
- To: Julian Reschke <julian.reschke@gmx.de>
- Cc: edgar@edgarschwarz.de, w3c-dist-auth@w3.org
One rationale for a separate APPEND are filesystem-like clients (WebDAV file system drivers, for example) that want to be able to map filesystem append capabilities onto WebDAV. This provides a simple method that allows them to do this. Append is one scenario where WebDAV filesystems perform very poorly as compared to alternative network filesystems. Authoring clients are the primary target for PATCH, as they have knowledge about fine-grain changes to resources. AFAIK, WebDAV file system drivers don't typically have enough information to send an update and use PATCH for sub-file changes. Could you make append functionality part of PATCH? Sure. The tradeoffs are, as I see them: Append as part of PATCH: Pro: * one method * fewer methods to implement * fewer methods for access control, configuration Con: * method is more complex: implementors need to implement mandatory append, text, and binary patch formats * no longer possible to implement just append capability on its own - Jim
Received on Monday, 7 August 2006 23:14:46 UTC