WebDAV for HTTP Server

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This topic provides information about Web-based distributed authoring and versioning (WebDAV) for the IBM® HTTP Server for i Web server.

Web-based distributed authoring and versioning (WebDAV) is a set of extensions to the HTTP protocol that allows WebDAV clients (such as Microsoft Web Folders) to collaboratively edit and manage files on remote Web servers. Major features of WebDAV include:

File locking so that two or more users do not overwrite the same file.
XML data to store properties data such as author information.
Copy and move operations so that directory structures can be modified.

WebDAV is a set of extensions to the HTTP protocol. The following table defines the HTTP methods and the WebDAV extensions. Note that two methods, DELETE and PUT, are defined in the HTTP 1.1 specification, but modified by WebDAV.

Method	Specifications	Description
COPY	WebDAV	Copies the resource.
DELETE	HTTP 1.1/WebDAV	Deletes the resource.
GET	HTTP 1.1	Gets the contents of the resource.
HEAD	HTTP 1.1	Returns the message headers from a message sent to the server.
LOCK	WebDAV	Locks the resource.
MKCOL	WebDAV	Creates the collection specified.
MOVE	WebDAV	Moves the resource.
OPTIONS	HTTP 1.1	Performs an option call to the server.
POST	HTTP 1.1	Action defined by the server.
PROPFIND	WebDAV	Performs a property find on the server.
PROPPATCH	WebDAV	Sets or removes properties on the server.
PUT	HTTP 1.1/WebDAV	Puts the contents of the resource to the server in the specified location.
TRACE	HTTP 1.1	Does a trace call to the server.
UNLOCK	WebDAV	Unlocks the resource.

See RFC2518 Link outside Information Center for more information on WebDAV.