Re: Use of "level" or "version" parameter to denote use of exper

David - Morris (dwm@shell.portal.com)
Wed, 18 Jan 95 01:21:23 EST

On Tue, 17 Jan 1995 Richard_J_McWaters@ccmail.ed.ray.com wrote:

> I've been wondering if we might allow some way to designate with the
> "level" or "version" parameter (or some other parameter) for
> describing a document that is mainly 'text/html' but also contains
> experimental features. E.g.,
>
> text/html; level=x-w3org-3
>
..
> Do you like the idea? If so, should it be "level", "version", or some
> other parameter?

>From my experience, it isn't worth the effort. If as a provider/
application developer I'm going to push the edges of what is supported,
I would rather key off an accurate HTTP-USER-AGENT value. The only
value I see in having detailed version reports is it represents advertising
as to what the author believes might work so I might be able to get
attention for bug reports. Perhaps keys like solid=x-w3org-2 and
we-hope=x-w3org-3. It doesn't seem worth while spending time devising
standard ways to declare what might work. I measure expected and/or
required behavior and use a dictionary of known clients to record
required tweaks to the data stream.

Dave Morris