ESciDoc Withdraw Comment
Withdraw Comment in the XML representation of an eSciDoc resource[edit]
Some resources managed by the eSciDoc infrastructure may have a lifecycle that usually starts with "pending", evolves to "released" and -- once released -- may end with "withdrawn". For every change of a resource a comment is assigned. The comment assigned with calling withdraw() (the withdraw comment) should be shown to users if they are trying to access content that is not longer accessible because of withdrawal.
Comments assigned for changes of a resource -- and so is done for withraw comments -- are stated in the XML representation of the version of a resource they belong to. Therefore the withdraw comment is only present in the latest-version of a resource inside the properties/version/comment element. Beside that every comment is tracked in the version-history. A XML representation of the version-history can be retrieved from every versionable resource.
If a request can not be fulfilled because of withdrawal the infrastructure returns an error message including the withdraw comment. So a client/solution is able to display the reason of withdrawal in a GUI.
Note: Not all requests become restricted by withdrawing a resource.
If the client decides not to show the response from the infrastructure because it recognizes that the requested resource is withdrawn (e.g. by inspecting the public-status of the resource), the withdraw comment must be determined by the client. That can be done by retrieving the latest-version of the resource (if the response isn't yet the latest-version) or by retrieving the version-history.
Removing withdraw comment from latest version[edit]
Caused by Issue 528 it is considered not to state version-status="withdrawn" inside any representation of a resource. If so, the withdraw comment will not appear in the latest-version of a withdrawn resource and the version-history is the only way to determine the withdraw comment without to effect an error.