Conditional GET text

[mnot@…]

Apparently people are confused by the fact that the definition of GET specifically mentions conditional headers:

The semantics of the GET method change to a "conditional GET" if the request message includes an If-Modified-Since, If-Unmodified-Since, If-Match, If-None-Match, or If-Range header field. A conditional GET method requests that the entity be transferred only under the circumstances described by the conditional header field(s). The conditional GET method is intended to reduce unnecessary network usage by allowing cached entities to be refreshed without requiring multiple requests or transferring data already held by the client. -- <​http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2616#section-9.3>

Do we need to clarify that conditionals apply to all requests? (do they?).

[fielding@…]

They do apply to all requests, though in different ways.

I think we should just refer to Part 4 (conditional requests) near the beginning of the section on Methods.

[mnot@…]

Also consider aligning p6 with p2. Rewrite intro in p2?

[mnot@…]

Agree with Roy here. We need to:

• Add this to p2 2.2.1 (considerations for new methods), which probably needs to turn into a list of considerations.

• Mention conditional requests *briefly* in p2 section 2 (method), with a ref to p4.

• Consider moving p2 6.1 (safe and idempotent methods) to p2 section 2 (it doesn't belong down there).

[mnot@…]

Paris: Move this text to the general introduction on methods.

[mnot@…]

Did this happen?

[julian.reschke@…]

Did this happen?

Nope, we still need to do this.

[fielding@…]

From [2161]:

Refer to conditional requests as being applicable to most methods, with details added to p4 for when conditionals are not applicable. Addresses #96