Subject: Server-Side References: Which Methods Get Passed Through?

From: "Slein, Judith A" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1998 15:46:53 -0400

Making the definition of Server-Side References (formerly Direct
References) operational involves making a decision about which methods
affect the target, and which affect the reference itself.  Although it
would be possible to support different flavors of Server-Side References
that pass through different methods to their targets, for simplicity's
sake it would be preferable to settle on one.  The following proposal
was well received at the IETF:

These methods affect the target:  GET, HEAD, PUT, POST, PROPFIND,
PROPPATCH
These methods affect the reference: DELETE, COPY, MOVE

We will adopt this interpretation in the Advanced Collections protocol
specification if there are no objections.  It would be useful to know
whether there are server vendors or DMS vendors whose products pass
through a different set of methods to the target for Server-Side
References.  Or whether there are those who think that clients need to
be able to request that a particular set of operations affect the target
when they create a Server-Side Reference.  (There was strong sentiment
in Chicago against giving clients the freedom to define arbitrary lists
of pass-through operations.)

Since on this interpretation DELETE will affect the reference, and not
its target, the DELREF method currently proposed in the protocol
specification can be dropped.

If we can agree on a single set of operations that affect the target,
and a single list of operations that affect the reference, the current
Pass-Through header and property can be replaced by a simpler Ref-Type
header and property, whose values are just DAV:client-side or
DAV:server-side.

Judith A. Slein
Xerox Corporation
[email-masked]
(716)422-5169
800 Phillips Road 105/50C
Webster, NY 14580