#32 closed editorial (wontfix)
OPTIONS *
Reported by: | mnot@… | Owned by: | |
---|---|---|---|
Priority: | Milestone: | unassigned | |
Component: | p2-semantics | Severity: | |
Keywords: | Cc: |
Description
I'd like to see a clarification about what clients can expect upon OPTIONS *. In particular, can they expect to find out about *any* method name supported on that server? I'm asking because this doesn't seem to be the case for at least two major server bases, being:
- Apache (for instance, additional method names supported by mod_dav aren't listed) and
- generic Java servlet engines (servlet API does not support delegation of requests against "*" to all installed web applications)
Change History (3)
comment:1 Changed 14 years ago by mnot@…
- Component set to semantics
- Milestone set to unassigned
- version set to d00
comment:2 follow-up: ↓ 3 Changed 14 years ago by fielding@…
- Resolution set to wontfix
- Status changed from new to closed
- Type changed from design to editorial
comment:3 in reply to: ↑ 2 Changed 14 years ago by julian.reschke@…
Replying to fielding@gbiv.com:
The answer is "no" to both expectations. This is very clear already:
If the Request-URI is an asterisk ("*"), the OPTIONS request is intended to apply to the server in general rather than to a specific resource. Since a server's communication options typically depend on the resource, the "*" request is only useful as a "ping" or "no-op" type of method; it does nothing beyond allowing the client to test the capabilities of the server. For example, this can be used to test a proxy for HTTP/1.1 compliance (or lack thereof).
I don't see any point in listing all the possible things that can't be determined at the server-level; it is implementation-dependent.
I have to disagree. This question comes up again and again, so it seems the specification is not sufficiently clear.
The answer is "no" to both expectations. This is very clear already:
I don't see any point in listing all the possible things that can't be determined at the server-level; it is implementation-dependent.