Re: ISSUE-4 (SpecContent): Should specifications decide what counts as content for transfer? [Progress Events]

On Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:32:50 +0200, Jonas Sicking <jonas@sicking.cc> wrote:

> Bjoern Hoehrmann wrote:
>> * Jonas Sicking wrote:
>>> It makes no sense to me to for HTTP say that the total number of bytes  
>>> should include HTTP headers. It would be similar to including the TCP  
>>> headers in the IP packets IMHO.
>>  There is a big difference here, an application might not have  
>> meaningful
>> access to the latter, but would necessarily have meaningful access to
>> the former (even if only to the next hop).
>
> I don't see how ability to get hold of one or another makes a difference  
> in determining whether it's the right or the wrong data. There is lots  
> of data available that would be the wrong data, that doesn't change the  
> fact that it's the wrong data.
>
>> The consequence of not in-
>> cluding headers would be, e.g., that on HEAD requests you would seem to
>> never make any progress.
>
> Yes, I agree that this is somewhat unfortunate. Though in reality I  
> doubt that it will matter much since headers are usually small enough  
> that you don't really need progress reports on them.

Well, until you get some mobile network crawling along sending an accept  
header ...

Seriously, this is the sort of problem that makes me want to define this  
as application-specific. Because it makes no sense to me that a GET  
request counts the returned header as content, but it makes sense to me  
that a HEAD request does, and I am not sure what makes sense for PUT.  
Using it for mail, where you are transferring an entire mailbox as a  
single object it seems natural to count the mail headers, but shifting an  
individual message I am not so sure...

Cheers

Chaals

-- 
Charles McCathieNevile  Opera Software, Standards Group
     je parle français -- hablo español -- jeg lærer norsk
http://my.opera.com/chaals   Try Opera 9.5: http://snapshot.opera.com

Received on Monday, 23 June 2008 17:16:19 UTC