[Web-SIG] Comments/stylistic ideas regarding WSGI

[Jim Dabell]

On Monday 23 August 2004 06:27, Ian Bicking wrote:
> Jim Dabell wrote:
> > My only other comment for the time being is that if the status argument
> > to the start_response function was changed to an integer instead of a
> > string, it would be marginally easier to compare and branch on.  A custom
> > "reason phrase" that comes after the integer in the response status line
> > can be provided by other means, perhaps gateway.reason_phrase, if
> > desired.
>
> I've been thinking: is there anything, anywhere, that pays any attention
> to the reason string?

If there is, then it's broken.  According to RFC 2616, the reason string is 
intended for humans, giving localisation as an example of when it may vary.

"The Reason-Phrase is intended to give a short textual description of the 
Status-Code. The Status-Code is intended for use by automata and the 
Reason-Phrase is intended for the human user. The client is not required to 
examine or display the Reason-Phrase."

"The individual values of the numeric status codes defined for HTTP/1.1, and 
an example set of corresponding Reason-Phrase's, are presented below. The 
reason phrases listed here are only recommendations -- they MAY be replaced 
by local equivalents without affecting the protocol."

I don't think I've come across anything that pays attention to the reason 
phrase, but it's a useful reminder to developers when they are debugging 
something I suppose.

-- 
Jim Dabell