AOLpress/AOLserver

AOLserver "webstore"

• current version of resource in filesystem
• meta-data, indices, etc. in database
• DBMS not required; "stackable" with other servers

HTML source

• With server-side includes and other dynamic content, how does one request the "original" page?
  (Accept: text/x-html-ssi ?)
• How much canonicalizing should an authoring tool attempt?
  (more palatable when pretty-printed, line-break conventions preserved)

Rewriting relative links...

• duck the issue - do nothing
• duck the issue - use collections
• user-specified (state space?)
• template specified

Rewriting relative links...

• user-specified: by type
  • convert { none, relative links, all }
  • convert relative to absolute
• template-specified: for <APPLET> specifies which <PARAM>s can be rewritten (as above)

Lost Update

• do nothing (ostriching)
• detect lost updates (versioning)
• prevent lost updates\tab (locking)
• fairness issues (leasing)

Lost Update - versioning

• reads include "Content-Version:" headers
• writes provide "Derived-From:" headers
• server prevents dirty writes
• solves the "CREATE" problem
• header syntax has changed for HTTP/1.1

Lost Update - locking

• LOCK/UNLOCK methods
• "Locked-By:" header
• use OPTIONS to detect server support
• runs on top of Content-Version scheme
• fair UNLOCK? collaborative groups hopefully share trust!

Access Control

• users / groups (multiple membership)
• METHOD URL (specific/inherited)
• machine address (netmask)

Access Control List

• METHOD+aliases URL (+inheritance)
• allow/deny (user0 user1 ... userN)
• allow/deny (group0 group1 ... groupN)
• allow + deny (netmask0 netmask1 ... netmaskN)

Versions

• resource revisions are timestamped and saved
• accessed through prefixed URL, therefore
• relative links, images, resolved as of that revision's timestamp
• absolute links? version != snapshot?

PUT vs. POST to publish

• PUT method simplifies access control
• PUT method simplifies infrastructure
  caching proxies, gateways, etc...
• general-use servers starting to support PUT

namespace methods

• DELETE
• MKDIR
• BROWSE

BROWSE sample

HTTP/1.0 200 OK
MIME-Version: 1.0
Date: Tuesday, 09-Jul-96 23:35:44 GMT
Server: NaviServer/2.0 AOLserver/2.033
Content-Type: application/x-navibrowse
Content-Length: 289

application/x-navidir .
text/html .odo.index.htm
application/x-navidir download
text/html download.html
text/html feedback.html
application/x-navidoc images
text/html index.html
application/x-navidoc press
text/html search.html
application/x-navidoc server
application/x-navimap tools.nvm

URL mapping
magic URLs used for:
http://server/NS/operation/path... (or form data)

• page permissions
• page versions
• administer server
• PrimeHost Advanced Control Panel
• use methods instead?

PrimeHost Control Panel
linked to server administration page, provides

• log analysis, log rolling
• MIME type configuration
• FTP reporting, configuration
• email configuration: aliases/mailing lists

transparent extension!

Server API's

• should we standardize?
• can "stack" servers for some functionality
• ISAPI is a possibility

Editing variants

• editable variants have their own URLs
• does this apply to versioning, as well?
• assigning variants to resources similar to access control

PICS, etc...

• data-driven support for metadata systems (such as PICs rating)
  raters provide form-driven well-known URLs to produce their encoding?
• old NaviPress "Describe" functionality
  (forms-based association of metadata with resource)

miscellanea

• cross-server searching (WAIS, MARC, ...)
• cross-vendor AutoLinking?
• better support for link checking (spec'd, just needs to be implemented?)