Re: Option #6: Using POST for uploading associated resources

[Janne Jalkanen <Janne.Jalkanen@xxxxxxxxx>]

> Cons:
>
> o It's not as full featured as WebDAV; it solves only the uploading 
> problem; it doesn't allow for full control of a namespace by the 
> client (but that might be a pro for the server side...)
> o Doesn't solve the binary-content-in-XML problem at all (not a goal 
> of this solution)
> o Requires URL rewriting by the client
> o If user really just wants to upload a picture with a little 
> metadata, requires two uploads: this one, plus an Atom entry with some 
> sort of "no, look over here!" link inside. 

So, in order to upload, say three images I just took, and an entry, I 
need to do seven transactions?

1) upload image #1
2) upload metadata for image #1
3) upload image #2
4) upload metadata for image #2
5) upload image #3
6) upload metadata for image #3
7) Combine results from steps 1-6, rewrite URLs in the entry, then 
upload entry.

By the same logic, we would need (8) - upload metadata for the entry :)

What if there was just a simple way to upload the metadata for the 
binary objects, and the entry would still be separate?  Use just MIME 
multipart to upload the image (essentially combining 1&2, 3&4, and 
5&6).  That would be somewhere half-way between the suggested "put 
everything in a single, gigantic multipart message" and the Option #6.  
That would also mean that there would be no need for the server to do 
any URL rewriting, as the entry would still be separate.

> o Authentication for upload would have to be HTTP-based (Basic or 
> Digest auth?) rather than something more XML-based, unless I'm missing 
> something.

WSSE should work well here.

/Janne