- From: Yves Lafon <ylafon@w3.org>
- Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2000 10:21:15 +0100 (MET)
- To: Yaron Goland <yarong@Exchange.Microsoft.com>
- cc: "'Eric Sedlar'" <esedlar@us.oracle.com>, w3c-dist-auth@w3.org, "'gclemm@atria.com'" <gclemm@atria.com>
On Mon, 3 Jan 2000, Yaron Goland wrote:
> Precept #1 - HTTP clients send HTTP request messages to resources that
> respond with HTTP response messages.
>
> Corollary #1.1 - All HTTP proposals can only be written in terms of how a
> resource processes a HTTP request from a HTTP client and generates a HTTP
> response as a result.
>
> Corollary #1.2 - HTTP requests do not necessarily have to be handled by HTTP
> resources. For example, it is possible to send a HTTP request with a FTP
> request-URI. Some HTTP proxies are set up to act as gateways that can handle
> translating the HTTP request into a FTP request and then translate the FTP
> response into a HTTP response. That is why precept #1 states "...to
> resources..." rather than specifying a HTTP resource.
Hum, if you see the proxy as a HTTP resource, The HTTP resource acting as
a proxy may issue an ftp request then return a HTTP response to the HTTP
client", so even if it end up being a ftp request, the first HTTP request
was handled by an HTTP resource.
No matter how the content is generated, it always an HTTP resource that is
handling an HTTP request.
So Precept #1 should use "HTTP resources" and not resources. Also a
resource may be at the same time an HTTP resource, and answer according to
another protocol.
> Corollary #1.3 - Since HTTP request messages can only be handled by
> resources which respond with HTTP response messages then even error messages
> such as "Not Found" must have been generated by a resource.
Well if the resource can't handle HTTP request, the daemon that will ask
this resource to generate an HTTP reply should return to the client an
error stating that the resource doesn't support this protocol, like a Not
Found with a good explanation in the body.
/\ - Yves Lafon - World Wide Web Consortium -
/\ / \ Architecture Domain - Jigsaw Activity Leader
/ \ \/\
/ \ / \ http://www.w3.org/People/Lafon - ylafon@w3.org
Received on Tuesday, 4 January 2000 04:20:13 UTC