Re: text/xml for SOAP is incorrect

Hello all. 8-)

I'd like to voice my +1 on application/xml and on warning against
the path of application/soap_for_book_buying_and_video_buying+xml.

More specific identification of type than application/xml is done
by the XML document's namespace.

If an application needs to dispatch before parsing the document,
that's what different endpoint URIs are for.

If the application is given a URL, for example
"http://foo.com/application", it should be allowed to get all
messages for "http://foo.com/application/**" as well and then it
can dispatch by this URL.

What I don't like about application/soap+xml is that (AFAIK)
soap+xml is not xml (from the viewpoint of MIME content types) so
in case this subtype is not known the data won't even be treated
as XML.

                            Jacek Kopecky

                            Idoox
                            http://www.idoox.com/


P.S: 21st century started on Sep 11, 2001



On Mon, 17 Sep 2001, John J. Barton wrote:

 > With all respect to the authors of RFC 3023 (XML Media Types),
 > binding behavior to representations of Web resources is not
 > at good engineering direction for Web technologies[1]
 > A SOAP message is text: it can be read with text tools and
 > it is encoded as XML so XML parsers can study it and parse
 > further information without hints.  There should not be a
 > different media type for XML sent to an "application"
 > verses one sent to a "browser" (which is just another
 > application).  The server should not assume the use of
 > the media representation.
 >
 > Therefore application/xml is not necessary.  I suppose it
 > may be to late to turn back from that.  But let us not go
 > further down the path to application/soap+xml,
 > application/soap_for_ecommerce+xml,
 > application/soap_for_book_buying+xml
 > application/soap_for_book_buying_and video_buying+xml, etc.
 > Content-type should describe the media type, not its use,
 > or provide other information that is elsewhere.
 >
 > [1] Roy Fielding, "Architectural Styles and the Design of
 > Network-based Software Architectures",
 > http://www.ebuilt.com/fielding/pubs/fielding_dissertation_2up.pdf
 >
 > John.
 >

Received on Tuesday, 18 September 2001 11:26:20 UTC