On 6/14/06, Robert Sayre <sayrer@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Tim Bray wrote:
> I.e. in the first case, we're saying "Client: don't do this." In the
> second "Server: if the client stupidly requests this, ignore it."
NO. -1. Do not design requirements for servers you know nothing about.
Servers: send an error if a client sends a request you can't deal
with. Do not silently "correct" the request. This is how HTTP works,
it's a normative reference, don't rewrite some busted version in Atom
Protocol. OK?
FWIW, this (Robert's interpretation) is the behavior we've opted for
the GData APP implementation. If a client sends us extension elements
we don't persist with an entry (for example), we reject it with a Bad
Request http error.
[...]
Our design was based upon the the belief that if building a store then
accepting MOST of the client's data wasn't good enough. It was all
or nothing. Our definition of "correct" doesn't include silent data
loss.