Re: How to handle errors if contents of response are dynamically generated?

On 9/13/07, X. Long <xlong07@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Thanks Mark! The HTTP server I am building is a server that provide dynamic
> data (format can be binary or text, size can vary from MB to TB) according
> to requests of users. The server is supposed to serve user scripts (e.g., in
> perl/python/java/c#) and browsers (e.g., ie).

Hmm, that kind of generality means you need a very general solution.
I'm not aware of a single solution which would meet your needs.

Had you said that you were using just one or two specific data
formats, then you might consider injecting an extension into the data
that signalled the error (if the format supported that, plus with some
script that could render it in a browser).  That doesn't sound general
enough for you though.

> The expected solution would be the client can get aware of the error
> immediately (not waiting for timeout and knowing the data is incomplete).
> Ideally, users should be notified this is an internal error and they should
> contact admin instead of repeating the request.
>
> Also, since this is a well known problem with HTTP, what are the general
> approaches recommended? It will be great if some previous discussions about
> this topic can be pointed to me.

It's well known, but not so oft-encountered AFAIK.  You might try
digging through the IETF HTTP WG archives at
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/ietf-http-wg/

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

Mark.
-- 
Mark Baker.  Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA.         http://www.markbaker.ca
Coactus; Web-inspired integration strategies  http://www.coactus.com

Received on Friday, 14 September 2007 03:37:50 UTC