schlitt.info - php, photography and private stuff
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:Author: 		Tobias Schlitt
:Date:			Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:34:32 +0100
:Revision: 		2
:Copyright:		CC by-nc-sa


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At IPC2k7: WebDAV will come over you...
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:Description:
    The new semester has right begun, which basically means that the *semester
    vacation* as it was named earlier (now the *lesson free time*) is over.
    While that meant a lot of exams and work on the book for Kore and me at
    first, we had time for some vacation and finally to take care about a
    brand new eZ Components project:

The new semester has right begun, which basically means that the *semester
vacation* as it was named earlier (now the *lesson free time*) is over. While
that meant a lot of exams and work on `the book`__ for `Kore`__ and me at
first, we had time for some vacation and finally to take care about a brand
new `eZ Components`__ project:

.. __: http://www.galileocomputing.de/katalog/buecher/titel/gp/titelID-1545
.. __: http://kore-nordmann.de
.. __: http://ez.no/ezcomponents

**WebDAV**

Starting by the end of August we spent almost whole September full-time on
designing and implementing this component. The goal was to design a flexible
`WebDAV server component`__, which can be used to edit whatever data source on
an HTTP server through the WebDAV extension of the protocol, with the full lot
of concerns in mind.

.. __: http://ez.no/doc/components/view/trunk/(file)/classtrees_Webdav.html

Who ever read `RFC 2518`__ or even had a slight glance at it, might have
noticed its quality. To state it plainly: It's bullshit. Inconsistencies,
spongy phrases and un-logical behaviour definition wherever you look. No
wonder, that almost every client behaves slightly differnet, so the first
major concern was, that we did not now how clients would expect us to react.

.. __: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2518

|image_1|

.. |image_1| image:: http://files.schlitt.info/blog/eZ_components/webdav_architecture.serendipityThumb.png
   :target: http://files.schlitt.info/blog/eZ_components/webdav_architecture.png

**Webdav component architecture - Click to enlarge**

The result of the design phase included a custom summarization of the RFC
including many other issues we stumbled over and is is a 3 level architecture
for the component (as seen in the illustration). The 3 levels incorporate a
lot of flexible configuration and adjustment possibilities, as well as a
plugin API to realize the many extensions for WebDAV. We are currently working
on the necessary client adjustments. While a lot of clients already work, Kore
is on reverse engineering the M$ clients constantly, while I'm currently
working on the first plugin: Locking.

If you would like to know more about this component and see it in action, come
and visit my talk at the **International PHP Conference 2007**. The family
meeting will as usual take place in Mörfelden (near Frankfurt am Main,
Germany) from **November 4th to 7th**. We plan to have an alpha release of the
component soon, so I believe you can right forward try it out at the
conference and give us feedback.

Looking forward to see you all! :)


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Comments
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- carlos cabral at Fri, 19 Oct 2007 05:20:40 +0200

  Hi Tobias,

  correct me if i'm wrong... this component will behave just like a webDAV
  server, right?

- Toby at Fri, 19 Oct 2007 05:22:11 +0200

  Hi Carls,

  yes, that is correct, you will be able to set up your own WebDAV server with
  this component.

  Regards, Tiby

- sf at Sat, 03 Nov 2007 08:42:34 +0100

  We use webdav in ower company ;) Cool stuff.

- Ahmad Al Jayousi  at Thu, 25 Nov 2010 11:06:51 +0100

  I am looking to increase my website inlinks popularity ANy one can help

  Philadelphia University Jordan http://www.philadelphia.edu.jo E-mail:
  aaljayousi@philadelphia.edu.jo