RFC 2310 (rfc2310) - Page 1 of 5

The Safe Response Header Field

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Network Working Group                                          K. Holtman
Request for Comments: 2310                                            TUE
Category: Experimental                                         April 1998


                     The Safe Response Header Field

Status of this Memo

   This memo defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet
   community.  It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.
   Discussion and suggestions for improvement are requested.
   Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1998).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This document defines a HTTP response header field called Safe, which
   can be used to indicate that repeating a HTTP request is safe.  Such
   an indication will allow user agents to handle retries of some safe
   requests, in particular safe POST requests, in a more user-friendly
   way.

1 Introduction

   This document defines a HTTP response header field called Safe, which
   can be used to indicate that repeating a HTTP request is safe.  Such
   an indication will allow user agents to handle retries of some safe
   requests, in particular safe POST requests, in a more user-friendly
   way.

2 Terminology and Notation

   This document uses the HTTP terminology and BNF notation defined in
   [1].  It uses the key words in RFC 2119 for defining the significance
   of each particular requirement.

3 Rationale

   According to Section 9.1.1 (Safe Methods) of the HTTP/1.1
   specification [1], POST requests are assumed to be `unsafe' by
   default.  `Unsafe' means `causes side effects for which the user will
   be held accountable'.





Holtman                       Experimental
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