PUT side effects

[mnot@…]

2616 specifically allows PUT to have side effects;

A single resource MAY be identified by many different URIs. For example, an article might have a URI for identifying "the current version" which is separate from the URI identifying each particular version. In this case, a PUT request on a general URI might result in several other URIs being defined by the origin server.

HTTP/1.1 does not define how a PUT method affects the state of an origin server.

and it also says (in the context of PUT)

If a new resource is created, the origin server MUST inform the user agent via the 201 (Created) response.

So, if I PUT something to /foo, and it has the side effect if creating /foo;2006-04-03, is the response required to be a 201 Created?

I.e., read literally, the above requirement requires a 201 Created when PUT results in *any* resource being created -- even as a side effect.

This is IMO unnecessarily constraining, and should be relaxed; e.g., changed to something like

[mnot@…]

Proposal:

"If a new resource is created at the Request-URI, the origin server MUST inform the user agent via the 201 (Created) response."

[mnot@…]

Proposal accepted.

[julian.reschke@…]

Fixed in [180]:

Resolve #21: clarify that 201 is only required when a new resource is being created at the Request-URI (closes #21)