[Zope-dev] Etag support in page templates

[Jamie Heilman]

Jens Vagelpohl wrote:
> I'm not looking at the big picture. I'm trying to avoid complaints from 
> people that for one reason or another use those broken M$ clients.

Think about it:

 Solution A)
    # Directive: send-empty-etag
    #
    # Description:
    #   Add an empty Etag HTTP header to server responses to placate
    #   buggy Microsoft DAV clients.
    #
    # Default: off
    #
    # Example:
    #
    #   send-empty-etag on

    # Directive: send-ms-author-via
    #
    # Description:
    #   Add 'MS-Author-Via: DAV' HTTP header to server responses to
    #   placate buggy Microsoft DAV clients.
    #
    # Default: off
    #
    # Example:
    #
    #   send-ms-author-via on

    add, all the supporting code for this configuration and its
         implementation
    add, maintenance of said support code

    Result: The users will ask, "Why doesn't my Office application
            work with Zope?"  The zope oracle will respond, "It can,
            but you have to enable the send-empty-etag and
            send-ms-author-via directives in your zope.conf."  The
            user will respond, "OK, thanks."

 Solution B)
    in doc/WebDAV.txt or similar:

    Some Microsoft DAV clients are broken and need special coddling to
    work with Zope.  In particular, extra headers need to be added to
    the HTTP responses.  This can be done by configuring the HTTP
    proxy server to include these extra headers during conversations
    with known buggy clients.  For example, using Apache's mod_headers:

    Headers set MS-Author-Via DAV
    Headers set Etag ""

    add, maintenance of said document

    Result: The users will ask, "Why doesn't my Office application
            work with Zope?"  The zope oracle will respond, "It can,
            but you have to configure your HTTP proxy to overcome
            Microsofts buggy DAV implementation, read doc/WebDAV.txt
            for more information." The user will respond, "OK, thanks."

Now... which of these scenarios do you think is in Zope's best
interest?

-- 
Jamie Heilman                     http://audible.transient.net/~jamie/
"...thats the metaphorical equivalent of flopping your wedding tackle
 into a lion's mouth and flicking his lovespuds with a wet towel, pure
 insanity..."                                           -Rimmer