RE: REST vs. OMA (not SOAP)

>> > OK, and if I want to accept (change the status) of an order, I
>> > POST a message that contains an "indication" (method, header,
>> > noun, verb, whatever) of the action that should be taken and
>> > the new status of the resource, right?
>
>> If you POST a logical "diff" then there is no method. The method is
>> implicitly "apply this diff".

> This makes "mechanical"  sense to me in terms of manipulating resource
> *representations*, but not in terms of actual *business processes*.
> "Accepting an order" implies a lot of "functions" being called behind
the
> scenes -- databases updated, entries made in ERP systems, physical
atoms
> moved around warehouses and mailrooms.  It just seems like splitting
very
> fine theoretical hairs to say that this should be triggered by
"applying a
> diff" rather than "specifying a method" inside the POST body.

You are correct about the stuff happening behind the scenes,
but that is why it is not just "a method" inside the POST body either.
It is something like a "Change Order" or "Change Request" document
that needs to be accepted.  The physical atoms might not be there.
Or already on the truck to you.  Or it might cost extra.
Or any number of business-level reasons why you can't have
the change you want.

Plus, an order is still a legal contract and an order change
is a contract change.  Protocols for legal binding apply.

However, as a document, a Change Order is more like a diff
than a method.

-Bob Haugen

Received on Thursday, 18 July 2002 18:48:59 UTC