[Oslc-Automation] OSLC Actions: URI to identify interaction patterns. Plus "templates" replacing "with RDF body" pattern

[Martin P Pain]

Here is a doc containing some draft potential changes to the Actions spec.

The changes are driven by:
(1) having a single URI to identify each interaction pattern
    (which means only having a single HTTP request pattern,
    identifying the different ways of building content separately)
(2) re-using the idea of "templates" from automation for the "with
    RDF body" case, to avoid solving the same problems (e.g.
    content-type) twice.
(3) Also, it brings the "creation factory" interaction pattern
    into Core, but John has now suggested we only define the
    "AutoRequest Creation factory" pattern, so this would stay
    in Automation.
    However, as Creation Factories already have a predicate and
    semantics for resource shapes, this draft moves the resource
    shape pattern in to the Creation Factory one as that is already
    (kind of) defined in the Core spec CF resource section.
    Also, we might want resource shapes without the "creation"
    semantics, so removing resource shapes from the HTTP pattern
    is probably not a good idea.

Note that the profiles have changed to reflect the changed patterns. The 
POST profile has got a little but more complicated, but hopefully not by 
too much.

I'm not proposing these changes, they are there to prompt thought about 
these three areas.

So my questions are:
(1) Does such a refactor to provide a single identifying URI (rdf:type 
value) per interaction pattern (although we may do it differently than 
this) make things better or worse?
(2) Is the reference to a common "templates" concept better than just 
saying "serialize the RDF"?
(3) Is there any value in this sort of usage of CFs? (My answer: no, as we 
may want resource shapes without the creation semantics, as defined 
above).

So I guess my proposal is to take the changes related to points (1) and 
(2), but with resource shapes as an alternative "request body type" under 
the HTTP pattern, rather than as part of the CF pattern.

Do any of you you agree/disagree?








Martin Pain
Software Developer - Green Hat
Rational Test Virtualization Server, Rational Test Control Panel
Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration - Automation WG joint chair

E-mail: martinpain at uk.ibm.com
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