Re: SOAP Header Element Question

Frank, 

it is my view that a responder can do whatever it will as long as the
processing rules are being followed. For example, if the request is to
cound 

Generally though, most responders will not differentiate between an
empty Header element and no Header element. 

Best regards, 

                   Jacek Kopecky

                   Senior Architect, Systinet Corporation
                   http://www.systinet.com/



On Mon, 2002-11-04 at 20:01, Frank Adams-Watters wrote: 
> 
> The SOAP header is defined as "a collection of zero or more SOAP header
> blocks".  And it is an optional element in the SOAP envelope.  My question
> is, is there any difference between not having a SOAP header, and having a
> SOAP header with zero header blocks (and no attributes on the header
> element)?  In other words, are receivers permitted to respond differently to
> two such messages?  It seems to me that the answer should be "no", and that
> the specification should say so; I can't find anywhere that it does.
> 
> This is admittedly a minor point.  SOAP messages with zero header blocks are
> probably going to be quite rare.  And it would certainly be a design mistake
> to make such a distinction, either in published semantics for a message or
> in actual implementation of a receiver: it closes off possibilities for
> later enhancement.  However, I still think the specification should be
> explicit on this point.
> 
> I would appreciate it if someone on the committee would email me a response
> on this; I'm not on this mailing list (and don't have sufficient interest in
> the topic to want to be), and I may or may not eventually check in the
> archives to see if anyone has responded.
> 
> Frank Adams-Watters   DataStructures
> Frank.Adams.Watters@DataStructures.com
> 1300 Iroquois Dr., Ste 250   Naperville, IL  60563
> Land of the free ... home of the brave.
>

Received on Wednesday, 6 November 2002 14:35:39 UTC