Re: httpRange-14 Change Proposal

Thus far the posts on this subject (at least, those I have taken the 
time to scan/read) concentrate on the issue from the publisher's 
perspective.  Is there a description anywhere of how this change will 
impact on clients for this data?

For example, in order to be able to access Linked Data resources in the 
context of XSLT processing, I have written a CGI "forwarder" which takes 
a target URL and a desired content type as parameters.  With the help of 
this forwarder I can use the standard document() function to retrieve 
RDF/XML resources relating to any target URL, so long as it is served up 
in a manner which follows the existing 303 strategy.  There are two 
points about this client strategy which might be impacted by the current 
proposals:

1. In order to work with the standard document() function, the forwarder 
sets the HandleRedirects property of the TidHTTP object (this is 
Delphi-land) to true.  This means that it has no knowledge of whether 
the initial response was a 303 or a 200.  Will the client be expected to 
know whether a redirect has happened, and adjust their strategy accordingly?

2. The 303 strategy allows the client to specify the preferred response 
type in the Accept header, and in my implementation this is used to 
request RDF/XML, plain XML or even Topic Maps.  Will the revised 
strategy support this same degree of control over the format of the 
response?

Thanks,

Richard
-- 
*Richard Light*