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15. DAV Properties

15. DAV Properties​

For DAV properties, the name of the property is also the same as the name of the XML element that contains its value. In the section below, the final line of each section gives the element type declaration using the format defined in [REC-XML]. The "Value" field, where present, specifies further restrictions on the allowable contents of the XML element using BNF (i.e., to further restrict the values of a PCDATA element).

A protected property is one that cannot be changed with a PROPPATCH request. There may be other requests that would result in a change to a protected property (as when a LOCK request affects the value of DAV:lockdiscovery). Note that a given property could be protected on one type of resource, but not protected on another type of resource.

A computed property is one with a value defined in terms of a computation (based on the content and other properties of that resource, or even of some other resource). A computed property is always a protected property.

COPY and MOVE behavior refers to local COPY and MOVE operations.

For properties defined based on HTTP GET response headers (DAV:get*), the header value could include LWS as defined in [RFC2616], Section 4.2. Server implementors SHOULD strip LWS from these values before using as WebDAV property values.

15.1. creationdate Property​

Name: creationdate

Purpose: Records the time and date the resource was created.

Value: date-time (defined in [RFC3339], see the ABNF in Section 5.6.)

Protected: MAY be protected. Some servers allow DAV:creationdate to be changed to reflect the time the document was created if that is more meaningful to the user (rather than the time it was uploaded). Thus, clients SHOULD NOT use this property in synchronization logic (use DAV:getetag instead).

COPY/MOVE behavior: This property value SHOULD be kept during a MOVE operation, but is normally re-initialized when a resource is created with a COPY. It should not be set in a COPY.

Description: The DAV:creationdate property SHOULD be defined on all DAV compliant resources. If present, it contains a timestamp of the moment when the resource was created. Servers that are incapable of persistently recording the creation date SHOULD instead leave it undefined (i.e. report "Not Found").

<!ELEMENT creationdate (#PCDATA) >

15.2. displayname Property​

Name: displayname

Purpose: Provides a name for the resource that is suitable for presentation to a user.

Value: Any text.

Protected: SHOULD NOT be protected. Note that servers implementing [RFC2518] might have made this a protected property as this is a new requirement.

COPY/MOVE behavior: This property value SHOULD be preserved in COPY and MOVE operations.

Description: Contains a description of the resource that is suitable for presentation to a user. This property is defined on the resource, and hence SHOULD have the same value independent of the Request-URI used to retrieve it (thus, computing this property based on the Request-URI is deprecated). While generic clients might display the property value to end users, client UI designers must understand that the method for identifying resources is still the URL. Changes to DAV:displayname do not issue moves or copies to the server, but simply change a piece of meta-data on the individual resource. Two resources can have the same DAV:displayname value even within the same collection.

<!ELEMENT displayname (#PCDATA) >

15.3. getcontentlanguage Property​

Name: getcontentlanguage

Purpose: Contains the Content-Language header value (from Section 14.12 of [RFC2616]) as it would be returned by a GET without accept headers.

Value: language-tag (language-tag is defined in Section 3.10 of [RFC2616])

Protected: SHOULD NOT be protected, so that clients can reset the language. Note that servers implementing [RFC2518] might have made this a protected property as this is a new requirement.

COPY/MOVE behavior: This property value SHOULD be preserved in COPY and MOVE operations.

Description: The DAV:getcontentlanguage property MUST be defined on any DAV-compliant resource that returns the Content-Language header on a GET.

<!ELEMENT getcontentlanguage (#PCDATA) >

15.4. getcontentlength Property​

Name: getcontentlength

Purpose: Contains the Content-Length header returned by a GET without accept headers.

Value: See Section 14.13 of [RFC2616].

Protected: This property is computed, therefore protected.

Description: The DAV:getcontentlength property MUST be defined on any DAV-compliant resource that returns the Content-Length header in response to a GET.

COPY/MOVE behavior: This property value is dependent on the size of the destination resource, not the value of the property on the source resource.

<!ELEMENT getcontentlength (#PCDATA) >

15.5. getcontenttype Property​

Name: getcontenttype

Purpose: Contains the Content-Type header value (from Section 14.17 of [RFC2616]) as it would be returned by a GET without accept headers.

Value: media-type (defined in Section 3.7 of [RFC2616])

Protected: Potentially protected if the server prefers to assign content types on its own (see also discussion in Section 9.7.1).

COPY/MOVE behavior: This property value SHOULD be preserved in COPY and MOVE operations.

Description: This property MUST be defined on any DAV-compliant resource that returns the Content-Type header in response to a GET.

<!ELEMENT getcontenttype (#PCDATA) >

15.6. getetag Property​

Name: getetag

Purpose: Contains the ETag header value (from Section 14.19 of [RFC2616]) as it would be returned by a GET without accept headers.

Value: entity-tag (defined in Section 3.11 of [RFC2616])

Protected: MUST be protected because this value is created and controlled by the server.

COPY/MOVE behavior: This property value is dependent on the final state of the destination resource, not the value of the property on the source resource. Also note the considerations in Section 8.8.

Description: The getetag property MUST be defined on any DAV-compliant resource that returns the Etag header. Refer to Section 3.11 of RFC 2616 for a complete definition of the semantics of an ETag, and to Section 8.6 for a discussion of ETags in WebDAV.

<!ELEMENT getetag (#PCDATA) >

15.7. getlastmodified Property​

Name: getlastmodified

Purpose: Contains the Last-Modified header value (from Section 14.29 of [RFC2616]) as it would be returned by a GET method without accept headers.

Value: rfc1123-date (defined in Section 3.3.1 of [RFC2616])

Protected: SHOULD be protected because some clients may rely on the value for appropriate caching behavior, or on the value of the Last-Modified header to which this property is linked.

COPY/MOVE behavior: This property value is dependent on the last modified date of the destination resource, not the value of the property on the source resource. Note that some server implementations use the file system date modified value for the DAV:getlastmodified value, and this can be preserved in a MOVE even when the HTTP Last-Modified value SHOULD change. Note that since [RFC2616] requires clients to use ETags where provided, a server implementing ETags can count on clients using a much better mechanism than modification dates for offline synchronization or cache control. Also note the considerations in Section 8.8.

Description: The last-modified date on a resource SHOULD only reflect changes in the body (the GET responses) of the resource. A change in a property only SHOULD NOT cause the last-modified date to change, because clients MAY rely on the last-modified date to know when to overwrite the existing body. The DAV:getlastmodified property MUST be defined on any DAV-compliant resource that returns the Last-Modified header in response to a GET.

<!ELEMENT getlastmodified (#PCDATA) >

15.8. lockdiscovery Property​

Name: lockdiscovery

Purpose: Describes the active locks on a resource

Protected: MUST be protected. Clients change the list of locks through LOCK and UNLOCK, not through PROPPATCH.

COPY/MOVE behavior: The value of this property depends on the lock state of the destination, not on the locks of the source resource. Recall that locks are not moved in a MOVE operation.

Description: Returns a listing of who has a lock, what type of lock he has, the timeout type and the time remaining on the timeout, and the associated lock token. Owner information MAY be omitted if it is considered sensitive. If there are no locks, but the server supports locks, the property will be present but contain zero 'activelock' elements. If there are one or more locks, an 'activelock' element appears for each lock on the resource. This property is NOT lockable with respect to write locks (Section 7).

<!ELEMENT lockdiscovery (activelock)* >

15.8.1. Example - Retrieving DAV:lockdiscovery​

Request:

PROPFIND /container/ HTTP/1.1
Host: www.example.com
Content-Length: xxxx
Content-Type: application/xml; charset="utf-8"

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<D:propfind xmlns:D='DAV:'>
  <D:prop><D:lockdiscovery/></D:prop>
</D:propfind>

Response:

HTTP/1.1 207 Multi-Status
Content-Type: application/xml; charset="utf-8"
Content-Length: xxxx

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<D:multistatus xmlns:D='DAV:'>
  <D:response>
    <D:href>http://www.example.com/container/</D:href>
    <D:propstat>
      <D:prop>
        <D:lockdiscovery>
         <D:activelock>
          <D:locktype><D:write/></D:locktype>
          <D:lockscope><D:exclusive/></D:lockscope>
          <D:depth>0</D:depth>
          <D:owner>Jane Smith</D:owner>
          <D:timeout>Infinite</D:timeout>
          <D:locktoken>
            <D:href
        >urn:uuid:f81de2ad-7f3d-a1b2-4f3c-00a0c91a9d76</D:href>
          </D:locktoken>
          <D:lockroot>
            <D:href>http://www.example.com/container/</D:href>
          </D:lockroot>
         </D:activelock>
        </D:lockdiscovery>
      </D:prop>
      <D:status>HTTP/1.1 200 OK</D:status>
    </D:propstat>
  </D:response>
</D:multistatus>

This resource has a single exclusive write lock on it, with an infinite timeout.

15.9. resourcetype Property​

Name: resourcetype

Purpose: Specifies the nature of the resource.

Protected: SHOULD be protected. Resource type is generally decided through the operation creating the resource (MKCOL vs PUT), not by PROPPATCH.

COPY/MOVE behavior: Generally a COPY/MOVE of a resource results in the same type of resource at the destination.

Description: MUST be defined on all DAV-compliant resources. Each child element identifies a specific type the resource belongs to, such as 'collection', which is the only resource type defined by this specification (see Section 14.3). If the element contains the 'collection' child element plus additional unrecognized elements, it should generally be treated as a collection. If the element contains no recognized child elements, it should be treated as a non-collection resource. The default value is empty. This element MUST NOT contain text or mixed content. Any custom child element is considered to be an identifier for a resource type.

Example: (fictional example to show extensibility)

<x:resourcetype xmlns:x="DAV:">
    <x:collection/>
    <f:search-results xmlns:f="http://www.example.com/ns"/>
</x:resourcetype>

15.10. supportedlock Property​

Name: supportedlock

Purpose: To provide a listing of the lock capabilities supported by the resource.

Protected: MUST be protected. Servers, not clients, determine what lock mechanisms are supported.

COPY/MOVE behavior: This property value is dependent on the kind of locks supported at the destination, not on the value of the property at the source resource. Servers attempting to COPY to a destination should not attempt to set this property at the destination.

Description: Returns a listing of the combinations of scope and access types that may be specified in a lock request on the resource. Note that the actual contents are themselves controlled by access controls, so a server is not required to provide information the client is not authorized to see. This property is NOT lockable with respect to write locks (Section 7).

<!ELEMENT supportedlock (lockentry)* >

15.10.1. Example - Retrieving DAV:supportedlock​

Request:

PROPFIND /container/ HTTP/1.1
Host: www.example.com
Content-Length: xxxx
Content-Type: application/xml; charset="utf-8"

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<D:propfind xmlns:D="DAV:">
  <D:prop><D:supportedlock/></D:prop>
</D:propfind>

Response:

HTTP/1.1 207 Multi-Status
Content-Type: application/xml; charset="utf-8"
Content-Length: xxxx

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<D:multistatus xmlns:D="DAV:">
  <D:response>
    <D:href>http://www.example.com/container/</D:href>
    <D:propstat>
      <D:prop>
        <D:supportedlock>
          <D:lockentry>
            <D:lockscope><D:exclusive/></D:lockscope>
            <D:locktype><D:write/></D:locktype>
          </D:lockentry>
          <D:lockentry>
            <D:lockscope><D:shared/></D:lockscope>
            <D:locktype><D:write/></D:locktype>
          </D:lockentry>
        </D:supportedlock>
      </D:prop>
      <D:status>HTTP/1.1 200 OK</D:status>
    </D:propstat>
  </D:response>
</D:multistatus>
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