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Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV)
An Introduction


Prof. David Bernstein
James Madison University

Computer Science Department
bernstdh@jmu.edu

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Overview
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  • Summary:
    • A set of HTTP methods, headers and content-types for the creation, management and locking of resources and collections of resources
  • Specification:
    • Basics: RFC 4918
    • Ordered Collections: RFC 3648
    • Several other RFCs
Resources
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  • Defined:
    • Data (on a network)
  • Identified:
    • Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)
Properties
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  • Defined:
    • Data that describe the state of a resource (i.e., meta-data)
  • Model:
    • Name/Value Pairs (formatted in XML)
  • Types:
    • Dead - syntax and semantics are enforced by the client (the server records value verbatim)
    • Live - syntax and semantics are maintained or kept by the server
Collections
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  • Defined:
    • A container for resources (that is, itself, a resource)
  • State Information:
    • Mappings between URIs and resources
    • Properties of the collection
Locks
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  • Purpose:
    • Provide a mechanism for serializing access to a resource
  • Types:
    • Exclusive
    • Shared - multiple principals can receive shared locks (allows principals to indicate they intend to access)
Methods
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  • PROPFIND:
    • Retrieve properties of the specified resource
  • PROPPATCH:
    • Set and/or remove properties of the specified resources
  • MKCOL:
    • Create a new collection at the location specified
  • LOCK and UNLOCK:
    • Lock/unlock the specified resource
Methods (cont.)
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  • DELETE:
    • Delete the specified resource
  • GET:
    • Works as in HTTP
  • PUT:
    • Replace the specified resource
  • COPY:
    • Create a duplicate of the specified resource
  • MOVE:
    • Move the specified resource
There's Always More to Learn
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