Verbs

NetKernel supports verbs as a part of each request.

In NetKernel, each request includes a verb to indicate the general intent of the client. The semantics for each verb are provided by the specific implementation of the code providing the resource. In NetKernel the following verbs are supported with requests: NEW, DELETE, SOURCE, SINK, EXISTS, and TRANSREPT. Not all resources support the full set of operations. The only one that is critical is SOURCE.

The SOURCE verb indicates a desire for a resource's representation.

A SINK verb indicates a representation is being sent to a resource to update its state.

An EXISTS verb tests whether a resource representation exists.

A NEW verb should create a new resource representation and return it to the requestor.

A DELETE verb should remove the specified resource representation.

A TRANSREPT verb is an explicit request for an alternate form of a representation. It would be very unusual to issue this operation as most transreption operation are automatic and transparent.