Re: COPY def'n

At 07:17 PM 2/20/98 PST, Jim W. wrote:

>...If the environment at the destination is the same as at the source, the 
>COPY method MUST create a duplicate resource which behaves exactly like the 
>source resource.  Otherwise, if the destination environment is not the same 
>as at the source, the COPY method SHOULD create a duplicate resource which 
>behaves as closely as possible to the source resource.

Your reasoning is sound, and I agree with it.  Indeed, I had been thinking
of files.

A few questions:

 1) Do you need to define "behaves exactly like"?  or 'environment at the
destination'?

  In particular, do you mean that the response to GET must be
octet-for-octet identical to that from origin?  If so, would you mind
stating that explicitly?  But also, if so, what would happen to a resource
that used a server-side include that e.g. was position dependent?  So
perhaps 'octet-for-octet' is too strong.

 2) Presumably, the new resource is allowed to respond differently in so
far as the value of the href XML element in the response XML element.  How
about the value of the getlastmodified property, and (see below) getetag
propery?

Are there any other allowed differences?

 3) What about the etag?  Must it change?  Is is allowed to stay the same,
if the entity body as returned by GET remains octet-for-octet the same?

Received on Saturday, 21 February 1998 16:32:36 UTC