Link Relations for Simple Version Navigation

This specification defines Atom link relations for navigation between a resource and its versions.¶

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This specification defines link relations that may be used on a resource that exists in a system that supports versioning to navigate among the different resources available, such as past versions.¶

Versioned Resource ¶

• When a resource is put under version control, it becomes a "versioned resource".  I ↓A versioned resource can be "checked out" to allow modification.Many servers protect versioned resources from modifications by considering them "checked in", and by requiring a "checkout" operation before modification, and a "checkin" operation to get back to the "checked-in" state. Other servers allow modification, in which case the checkout/checkin operation may happen implicitly.

Version History ¶

• A "version history" resource is a resource that contains all the versions of a particular versioned resource.

Predecessor, Successor ¶

• When a versioned resource is checked out and then subsequently checked in, the version that was checked out becomes a "predecessor" of the version created by the checkin. A client can specify multiple predecessors for a new version if the new version is logically a merge of those predecessors. The inverse of the predecessor relation is the "successor" relation. Therefore, if X is a predecessor of Y, then Y is a successor of X.

Working Copy ¶

• A "working copy" is a resource at a server-defined URL that can be ↑ I ↓modifiedused to create a new version of a versioned resource.

Automated agents should take care when these relation crosses administrative domains (e.g., the URI has a different authority than the current document). Such agents should also take care to detect circular references.¶

version-history ¶

• WebDAV: the resource identified by the DAV:version-history property ([RFC3253], Sections 5.2.1 and 5.3.1).
• JCR: the node identified by jcr:versionHistory property ([JSR-283], Section 3.13.2.4) for versionable nodes, the parent folder for version nodes.

latest-version ¶

• WebDAV: for version-controlled resources, DAV:checked-in ([RFC3253], Section 3.2.1) or DAV:checked-out ([RFC3253], Section 3.3.1), depending on checkin state. For version resources, a successor version that itself does not have any successors.
• JCR: the version node identified by the jcr:baseVersion property ([JSR-283], Section 3.13.2.5) for versionable nodes; for version nodes, a successor version that itself does not have any successors.

working-↑ I ↓resourcecopy ¶

• WebDAV: for version-controlled resources that are checked-out in place: the resource itself. For version resources: each resource identified by a member of the DAV:checkout-set property (see [RFC3253], Section 3.4.3).
• JCR: for checked-out versionable nodes: the node itself.

predecessor-version ¶

• WebDAV: each resource identified by a member of DAV:predecessor-set ([RFC3253], Sections 3.3.2 and 3.4.1).
• JCR: each node identified by a member of jcr:predecessors ([JSR-283], Section 3.13.3.3).

successor-version ¶

• WebDAV: each resource identified by a member of DAV:successor-set ([RFC3253], Section 3.4.2).
• JCR: each node identified by a member of jcr:successors ([JSR-283], Section 3.13.3.4).