On 7/27/06, Xiaoshu Wang <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Whatever the HTTP headers ask, the resource is still treated as a cohesive unit. It applies to the resource in an all-or-none fashion. If any request demands the resource be broken into pieces, I think it steps out of the boundary of HTTP GET.
Sure. But no-one is talking about breaking resources into pieces, just providing alternate representations of the same resource. In RDF terms those representations may have graph/subgraph relationships with each other, but that's absolutely irrelevant as far as HTTP is concerned. HTTP does not mandate any particular part-whole logic. A resource can be anything that has identity, but the relevant specs make no demands on how identity between two resources is determined beyond the syntax of their identifiers. I also don't think anyone is suggesting that the request *demands* anything - just expresses client preferences, which may be ignored. For reference: 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, and resolutions) or vary in other ways. 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. http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec1.html#sec1.3 Cheers, Danny. -- http://dannyayers.com
