Re: Arch doc: meaning of term 'representation'?: Re: TB16 Re: Comments on arch doc draft

On 2002-07-03 20:49, "ext Jonathan Borden" <jonathan@openhealth.org> wrote:

> 
> Patrick Stickler wrote:
> 
>> 
>> Documentation about some resource is not an HTTP representation of
>> that resource.
> 
> I define (HTTP) documentation of some resource precisely as such a
> representation. Perhaps this is the crux of the dispute, over how the term
> "representation" is being used? I am not saying that any representation of
> some thing _is_ that thing, rather, a text description, or a picture, or
> some other electronic representation. Are we arguing over the meaning of
> "representation" ?
> 
> Perhaps the meaning of this term needs clarification?

From RFC 2068:

   resource
      A network data object or service that can be identified by a URI,
      as defined in section 3.2. Resources may be available in multiple
      representations (e.g. multiple languages, data formats, size,
      resolutions) or vary in other ways

   entity
      The information transferred as the payload of a request or
      response. An entity consists of metainformation in the form of
      entity-header fields and content in the form of an entity-body, as
      described in section 7.

   representation
      An entity included with a response that is subject to content
      negotiation, as described in section 12. There may exist multiple
      representations associated with a particular response status.

   content negotiation
      The mechanism for selecting the appropriate representation when
      servicing a request, as described in section 12. The
      representation of entities in any response can be negotiated
      (including error responses).

   variant
      A resource may have one, or more than one, representation(s)
      associated with it at any given instant. Each of these
      representations is termed a `variant.' Use of the term `variant'
      does not necessarily imply that the resource is subject to content
      negotiation.

I think it's pretty clear that a textual description *about* some
resource is neither a representation nor variant of that resource.

Patrick

--
               
Patrick Stickler              Phone: +358 50 483 9453
Senior Research Scientist     Fax:   +358 7180 35409
Nokia Research Center         Email: patrick.stickler@nokia.com

Received on Wednesday, 3 July 2002 14:15:13 UTC