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JSON-HC
draft-schuetze-json-hc-00

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This is an older version of an Internet-Draft whose latest revision state is "Expired".
Author J. Schuetze
Last updated 2016-08-27
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draft-schuetze-json-hc-00
Network Working Group                                        J. Schuetze
Internet-Draft                                           August 27, 2016
Intended status: Standards Track
Expires: February 28, 2017

                                JSON-HC
                       draft-schuetze-json-hc-00

Abstract

   This document proposes a media type for representing JSON resources
   and relations with hypermedia controls.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on February 28, 2017.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2016 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

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Table of Contents

   1.  JSON-HC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   3.  Requirements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   4.  JSON-HC Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   5.  Resource Objects  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   6.  Hypermedia Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   7.  Embedded Resource Object  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   8.  Refresh a Resource Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   9.  Target URL  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   10. Performing Actions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   11. Retrieve available HTTP methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   12. Profile of a Resource Object  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   13. Examples  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   14. Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6

1.  JSON-HC

2.  Introduction

   JSON Hypermedia Controls (JSON-HC) is a standard which establishes
   conventions for expressing hypermedia controls in JSON [RFC4627].

   The Hypermedia Controls of JSON-HC provide a way to figure out which
   Actions are possible with a Resource Object, what is the self URL of
   the Object and of which profile is the Resource Object.

3.  Requirements

   The key words "MUST" "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].

4.  JSON-HC Documents

   A JSON-HC Document uses the format described in [RFC4627] and has the
   media type "application/hc+json".

   Its root object MUST be a Resource Object.

   For example:

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         GET /orders/523 HTTP/1.1
         Host: example.org
         Accept: application/hc+json

         HTTP/1.1 200 OK
         Content-Type: application/hc+json

         {
           "self": "/orders/523",
           "profile": "https://example.org/rels/order",
           "https://example.org/rels/warehouse": "/warehouse/56",
           "https://example.org/rels/invoice": "/invoices/873",
           "currency": "USD",
           "status": "shipped",
           "total": 10.20
         }

   Here, we have a JSON-HC document representing an order resource with
   the URI "/orders/523" and the profile as in [RFC6906] defined as
   ""https://example.org/rels/order"".  It has "warehouse" and "invoice"
   links, and its own state in the form of "currency", "status", and
   "total" properties.

5.  Resource Objects

   A Resource Objects represents a resource.

   It has no reserved properties.

   A Resource Object MAY contain Hypermedia Controls with either a
   Target URL or an Embedded Resource Object as a value.

6.  Hypermedia Controls

   Resource Objects MAY contain Hypermedia Controls.

   A Hypermedia Control is a property name, which is either:

   o  an IANA link relation name

   o  or a valid URI

   The value of this Hypermedia Control must be an URL to the linked
   resource or an Embedded Resource Object.

   If the value is an URL, the Resource Object needs to be fetched
   ondemand with an additional request.

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7.  Embedded Resource Object

   If the value of an Hypermedia Control is a JSON object, there is no
   additional request necessary to fetch the Resource Object for this
   Hypermedia Control.

8.  Refresh a Resource Object

   If the Resource Object has a "self" Hypermedia Control, the value
   MUST be an URL.  A request to the URL will provide the Resource
   Object.

9.  Target URL

   The target URL of an Hypermedia Control is either:

   o  the value of an Hypermedia Control, if it is an URL

   o  the "self" Hypermedia Control of the Embedded Resource Object

   If the Target URL is not an absolute URL, it must start with a "/"
   and any request to this Target URL will be preceded with the base
   path of the initially requested Document.

10.  Performing Actions

   The Target URL of an Hypermedia Control can be used as target for
   HTTP requests.

11.  Retrieve available HTTP methods

   JSON-HC does not provide an own way to define, which HTTP methods a
   JSON-HC Target URL may accept.

   If a server needs to list the possible HTTP methods available for a
   resource, it SHOULD provide an Allow Header [RFC7231].

                     OPTIONS /cancelation/123 HTTP/1.1

                     HTTP/1.1 204 No Content
                     Allow: POST, OPTIONS

   If the resource was requested with an unsupported method, the server
   should reply with _405 Method not Allowed_ HTTP Status Code.

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12.  Profile of a Resource Object

   If the Resource Object has a profile Hypermedia Control, a client can
   use this to figure out of which kind the Resource Object is.

13.  Examples

   The following order resource has a self Hypermedia Control as defined
   by IANA Link Relations and a custom cancel Hypermedia Control.

         GET /orders/523 HTTP/1.1
         Host: example.org
         Accept: application/hc+json

         HTTP/1.1 200 OK
         Content-Type: application/hc+json

         {
           "self": "/orders/523",
           "profile": "https://example.org/rels/order",
           "https://example.org/rels/cancel": "/cancelation/873",
           "currency": "USD",
           "status": "created",
           "total": 10.20
         }

   If the client wants to cancel the order, it does a POST HTTP Request
   to the cancel Hypermedia Control.

                      POST /cancelation/123 HTTP/1.1

                      HTTP/1.1 204 No Content

   If POST would be not available, the server responds with:

                      HTTP/1.1 405 Method Not Allowed
                      Allow: DELETE

   A client might decide to use DELETE method instead of the hard coded
   POST method instead.

14.  Informative References

   [RFC4627]  Crockford, D., "The application/json Media Type for
              JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)", RFC 4627,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC4627, July 2006,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4627>.

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   [RFC6906]  Wilde, E., "The 'profile' Link Relation Type", RFC 6906,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC6906, March 2013,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6906>.

   [RFC7231]  Fielding, R., Ed. and J. Reschke, Ed., "Hypertext Transfer
              Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Semantics and Content", RFC 7231,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7231, June 2014,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7231>.

Author's Address

   J. Schuetze

   Email: jans@dracoblue.de

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