- From: Roy T. Fielding <fielding@kiwi.ics.uci.edu>
- Date: Tue, 06 Apr 1999 06:52:48 -0700
- To: jschroeder@becomsys.de
- Cc: http-wg@hplb.hpl.hp.com
>After reading the spec for a while I suspect that >every possible entity from a given resource is a >"variant" and if content negotiation comes into play >it is termed "representation" as well. Nope, that's backwards. Each possible entity from a resource is a "representation" of that resource at the time the message originated. A representation is a variant if, at origination time, the set of possible representations has a membership greater than one. It is called a variant because the chosen representation varies based on the request parameters (content negotiation). >If I have a document that changes only over time (eg CGI output), then >are the different entities termed as different "variants" >of the same resource as well? Or is it only sensible at a given >instant? Is there any practical explanation available? A resource is a mapping function based on time, so its value set is based on the given instant. A more extensive explanation is in my web architecture paper (submitted to ESEC/FSE99, so I can't give people a copy right now). ....Roy
Received on Tuesday, 6 April 1999 07:03:17 UTC