Open Stack

hi all,

recently a discussion came up in irc[1] about the guidance we can 
provide concerning PATCH body contents. essentially the issue comes down 
to what we should be recommending for updating resources; rfc6902 type 
patching, partial resource updates on PATCH, or a different methodology 
akin to sub-resource updating.

it seems reasonable that regardless of the methodology a project 
chooses, that the project should remain consistent internally. 
furthermore, it sounds like there are a number of different 
implementations in use around the openstack ecosystem which makes it 
more difficult to recommend a singular approach. although we could 
choose a direction as "most advisable".

we currently mention PATCH[2], and both 6902 and partial resource style 
updates. i'd like to open a discussion around what type of guidance we 
can provide in this area. i see a few options we could explore for 
guidelines:

* choosing a consistent updating methodology
* advising a sensible choice as the default preference of the wg (6902, 
partial resource, sub-resource)
* providing examples

what do folks think about creating some specific guidance for updating 
resources?

regards,
mike

[1]: 
http://eavesdrop.openstack.org/irclogs/%23openstack-api/%23openstack-api.2015-07-28.log.html#t2015-07-28T21:49:08

[2]: 
http://specs.openstack.org/openstack/api-wg/guidelines/http.html#http-methods