Don't use HTTP POST where GET is appropriate #10
Description
Looking at http://reference.data.gov.uk/doc/department/dft, when the Run Query
button is clicked a POST is used to submit the query. However the operation is
just a lookup.
To quote his Royness:
"It isn’t RESTful to use POST for information retrieval when that information
corresponds to a potential resource, because that usage prevents safe
reusability and the network-effect of having a URI."
http://roy.gbiv.com/untangled/2009/it-is-okay-to-use-post
The SPROT doc does allow for a POST, but :
"The queryHttpGet binding should be used except in cases where the URL-encoded
query exceeds practical limits, in which case the queryHttpPost binding should
be used."
http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-sparql-protocol/
I've not personally encountered a situation where any SPARQL 1.0 query exceeds
practical limits, and even if it did, surely the solution is for the server to
be fixed, not for the client to use architecturally broken workarounds.
Copy & paste of the query for the DfT page into the endpoint at
http://services.data.gov.uk/reference/sparql (note the link provided on the DfT
page is broken) seems to work fine with a GET.
Original issue reported on code.google.com by [email protected] on 3 Feb 2011 at 8:06