208 Already Reported: An HTTP Status Code Indicating That the Resource has Already Been Reported

INDEX

About 208 Already Reported

About 208 Already Reported

Overview of 208 Already Reported

Indicating Already Reported ResourcesHTTP Status Code

208 Already Reported

Overview 208 Already Reported is an HTTP status code used in the WebDAV protocol to indicate that a resource has already been reported within the response. This prevents the same resource from being listed multiple times, reducing redundancy in the response.

Meaning The client’s request was successful. Since the same resource has already been reported, it will not be listed again in the response.

When is 208 Already Reported Returned?

When performing a deep resource search using the WebDAV PROPFIND method
When the same resource could be discovered through multiple references
When avoiding duplicate resource reporting is necessary to create efficient responses

Examples of 208 Already Reported

Preventing Resource Duplication in WebDAV

PROPFIND /collection/ HTTP/1.1  
Host: example.com  
Depth: infinity

Response example:

HTTP/1.1 207 Multi-Status  
Content-Type: application/xml; charset=UTF-8  

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<multistatus xmlns="DAV:">
  <response>
    <href>/collection/resource1</href>
    <status>HTTP/1.1 200 OK</status>
  </response>
  <response>
    <href>/collection/subcollection/resource1</href>
    <status>HTTP/1.1 208 Already Reported</status>
  </response>
</multistatus>

Explanation: When a client recursively searches a collection and the same resource is referenced from multiple locations, the 208 status code is used after the initial report to suppress duplicate resource information.

Points to Note

Considerations when returning 208 Already Reported:

Avoid duplication in responses
Using the 208 status code improves response efficiency while ensuring that critical information is not omitted.
Ensure consistent response formatting
WebDAV responses typically use XML format, and properly formatted responses must be returned.

Comparison with Related HTTP Status Codes

Explanation of HTTP status codes related to 208 Already Reported:

207 Multi-Status: Used to report the status of multiple resources in a single response.
200 OK: Indicates success for a single resource. When resources are duplicated, 208 is preferred.

Understanding these differences ensures the appropriate use of the 208 status code.