To: new-httpd@apache.org
Subject: Re: bug in chunked encoding on HEADs 
In-reply-to: Your message of "Sat, 06 Nov 1999 18:48:06 MST."
             <Pine.BSF.4.20.9911061842020.89877-100000@alive.znep.com>
Date: Sat, 06 Nov 1999 18:05:59 -0800
From: "Roy T. Fielding" <fielding@kiwi.ICS.UCI.EDU>
Message-ID: <199911061805.aa24676@gremlin-relay.ics.uci.edu>
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>I'm afraid I don't quite understand.  What sort of broken behaviour would
>it lead to?

Misinterpretation by client readers expecting (incorrectly) to receive
chunks after a chunked transfer-encoding.  That is far more likely than
anyone other than a spec lawyer to care whether the HEAD response
contains transfer-encoding or not.

>2616 says:
>
>   The HEAD method is identical to GET except that the server MUST NOT
>   return a message-body in the response. The metainformation contained
>   in the HTTP headers in response to a HEAD request SHOULD be identical
>   to the information sent in response to a GET request. This method can
>   be used for obtaining metainformation about the entity implied by the
>   request without transferring the entity-body itself. This method is
>   often used for testing hypertext links for validity, accessibility,
>   and recent modification.
>
>Where does that allow for different message headers between a HEAD and
>GET?  HEAD doesn't return a mesasge-body (and, by implication, it doesn't

Transfer-Encoding does not supply metainformation (stuff about the entity).

....Roy