Result of a partial RETRIEVE targeting a non-existing attribute
There's an inconsistency in specs TS-0001 TS-0004 regarding the existence of a targeted attribute in a partial RETRIEVE: -TS-0001 - 10.1.3 - "General Exceptions:
- The targeted resource/attribute in To parameter does not exist. The Receiver responds with an error."
- TS-0004 - 7.3.3.1 - It talks only about existence of targeted resource not attribute
So, what should be returned?
- Error as TS-0001 indicates. In this case, TS-0004 should be updated to indicate which rsc to use. Maybe NOT_FOUND?
- An empty representation ("m2m:cnt":{}). In this case, TS-0001 should be updated to correct the above statement
Other cases to be taken into account:
- What does "does not exist" mean?:
- The attribute is not set for a given resource
- The attribute is not part of a given resource
- Multiple attributes to be retrieved (using atrl) - There might be both existing and non-existing attributes. What to return in this case?