- From: <mogul@pa.dec.com>
- Date: Tue, 06 Apr 99 13:08:22 -0700
- To: jschroeder@becomsys.de
- Cc: http-wg@hplb.hpl.hp.com
"Roy T. Fielding" <fielding@kiwi.ics.uci.edu> writes:
>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.
I've suggested the term "instance" as a way to describe a member
of this instantaneous value set:
The entity that would be returned in a status-200
response to a GET request, at the current time, for
the selected variant of the specified resource, but
without the application of any content-coding or
transfer-coding.
(see http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-mogul-http-digest-01.txt)
Without such a definition, it's fairly difficult to precisely specify
mechanisms such as delta encoding.
-Jeff
Received on Tuesday, 6 April 1999 13:12:55 UTC