Arrays and Hashes

["Lewis Denizen" <sakai@ambisys.com>]

Hi all,

Sorry if this has been discussed before, but I'm having trouble
understanding <get-config>.  Looking at the NetConf documentation,
there's an example laid out as follows:

Request:
       <rpc message-id="105" xmlns="http://ietf.org/netconf/base/1.0";>
         <get-config>
           <source>
             <running/>
           </source>
           <config xmlns="http://example.com/schema/1.2/config";>
             <users/>
           </config>
           <format>xml</format>
         </get-config>
       </rpc>

Response:
       <rpc-reply message-id="105"
xmlns="http://ietf.org/netconf/base/1.0";>
         <config xmlns="http://example.com/schema/1.2/config";>
           <users>
             <user>
               <name>root</name>
               <type>superuser</type>
               <full-name>Charlie Root</full-name>
             </user>
             <user>
               <name>fred</name>
               <type>admin</type>
               <full-name>Fred Flintstone</full-name>
             </user>
             <user>
               <name>barney</name>
               <type>admin</type>
               <full-name>Barney Rubble</full-name>
             </user>
           </users>
         </config>
       </rpc-reply>

That makes perfect sense to me.  What doesn't make sense is the second
part of the example:

Request:
       <rpc message-id="106" xmlns="http://ietf.org/netconf/base/1.0";>
         <get-config>
           <source>
             <running/>
           </source>
           <config xmlns="http://example.com/schema/1.2/config";>
             <users>
               <user>
                 <name>fred</name>
               </user>
             </users>
           </config>
           <format>xml</format>
         </get-config>
       </rpc>

Response:
       <rpc-reply message-id="106"
xmlns="http://ietf.org/netconf/base/1.0";>
         <config xmlns="http://example.com/schema/1.2/config";>
           <users>
             <user>
               <name>fred</name>
               <type>admin</type>
               <full-name>Fred Flintstone</full-name>
            </user>
           </users>
         </config>
       </rpc-reply>

I kind of understand that the client requested information regarding
<name>fred</name>.  What if, then, the client requested something like
this:

Request:
       <rpc message-id="106" xmlns="http://ietf.org/netconf/base/1.0";>
         <get-config>
           <source>
             <running/>
           </source>
           <config xmlns="http://example.com/schema/1.2/config";>
             <users>
               <user>
                 <name/>
               </user>
             </users>
           </config>
           <format>xml</format>
         </get-config>
       </rpc>

Would the implementation return all <user> elements with just the <name>
filled in?  Or, does this end up as an error?  Also, what happens if:

Request:
       <rpc message-id="106" xmlns="http://ietf.org/netconf/base/1.0";>
         <get-config>
           <source>
             <running/>
           </source>
           <config xmlns="http://example.com/schema/1.2/config";>
             <users>
               <user>
                 <type>admin</type>
               </user>
             </users>
           </config>
           <format>xml</format>
         </get-config>
       </rpc>

that comes in?  Since we have 2 admins (fred and barney), would we
return an entire <user><name/><type/><full-name/></user> on fred and
barney, or do we return 2 <user><type/></user> elements (pretty much
with just the word "admin" filled in for <type>)?  The latter kind of
doesn't make sense in such a context, but it doesn't seem too easy to
determine "what" to exactly send back.  Any feedback on this would be
greatly appreciated!  Thanks in advance!

Lewis D.




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