Subject: Re: questions about WebDAV methods

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 09:50:40 +0100

TAKEYAMA Jumpei <[email-masked]> wrote:

> I am new to this list and I would like to ask some questions.
> 1. Is there any way to apply any kinds of WebDAV methods, such as
> PROPFIND, LOCK, etc., to a specific part of the content, for example,
> a specific node in an xml document?

No, all the methods apply to an entire resource.

> 2. If there are no such ways available, have there ever been a
> discussion about nearly related topic?

Not to my knowledge.

> I'm very sorry for my bad English.

It's better than my Japanese!

Tim

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From: "Peter Pierrou" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 12:38:44 +0200

> No, all the methods apply to an entire resource.

Would it not be possible, if the server supports it, to map a part of an XML document with
the URL, by using xpointer as an example?

http://server/files/file.xml/descendant(1, 'paragraph')

If the server can handle a lock on a part of a document that would make sense.

Peter Pierrou

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From: "Jim Whitehead" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 11:33:22 -0700

> If the server can handle a lock on a part of a document that

Yes, it is certainly possible for a server to perform a mapping of the
structure of a document into its namespace. Use of XPointer is one such
possibility.

When we developed the WebDAV Distributed Authoring Protocol, one of our
design rules was to avoid requiring the server to have any knowledge about
the internal structure of a document. However, an individual server is
certainly free to do so.

- Jim