Subject: Protocol Action: 'Prefer Header for HTTP' to Proposed Standard (draft-snell-http-prefer-18.txt)

From: The IESG <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 08 Jan 2013 07:02:04 -0800

The IESG has approved the following document:
- 'Prefer Header for HTTP'
  (draft-snell-http-prefer-18.txt) as Proposed Standard

This document has been reviewed in the IETF but is not the product of an
IETF Working Group.

The IESG contact person is Barry Leiba.

A URL of this Internet Draft is:
http://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-snell-http-prefer/

Technical Summary

This specification defines an HTTP header field that can be used by a
client to request that certain behaviors be implemented by a server
while processing a request.

Working Group Summary

This is not a Working Group document, but it has been discussed
extensively on the HTTPbis WG mailing list, and has had an informal
Last Call there. There seems to be broad consensus to publish it, and
no significant issues remain.

Document Quality

Implementation is forthcoming in Apache Abdera, and this specification
is referenced by Microsoft's OData protocol. Other non-public
implementations have been discussed but not disclosed.

It has gone under substantial review and change based upon that
review. It is expected that this mechanism will be used mostly by
"API" applications of HTTP, rather than in Web browsers, so HTTP
implementations per se don't need to support it specifically.

Personnel

Mark Nottingham is the Document Shepherd.
Barry Leiba is the Responsible Area Director.