RETS Change Proposal 39: GetObject Changes
Author: Paul Hethmon
Organization: MarketLinx Solutions
Telephone: (865)777-0088
Address: 11121 Kingston Pike, Suite F, Knoxville, TN 37922
Email: phethmon@marketlinx.com
Status: Proposal
Date: 08/07/2003
Proposal Version: 1.x
1. Synopsis
Replace part of section 5.3 dealing with the object-id numbering to enable clients to determine which object is the preferred object in relation to all of the objects available.
2. Rationale
The current numbering scheme assumes that with N objects, a client may retrieve those objects by using an object-id from 1 to N. Further, the specification lets a client retrieve the preferred object by using an object-id of 0. The specification does not however allow the client to determine which of the 1 to N objects correspond to the preferred object. This change remedies that.
3. Proposal
Replace the paragraph in Section 5.3 beginning with the words “The object-id is the particular object to be retrieved.” with this wording:

The object-id is the particular object to be retrieved. This parameter MUST be numeric; objects are assumed to be stored sequentially on the host beginning with an object-id of “0”. An object-id of “0” means the designated preferred object of the given type is returned. If N objects are available, then object-id’s would range from 0 to N-1. If the object-id is set to “*” then all objects corresponding to the resource-entity are returned. This parameter can be used to specify the photo number e.g. a value of “3” would indicate photo number 4 (N-1).

4. Development Impact
This change would affect both clients and servers currently in use. The proposal was written to preserve the idea of object-id “0” being the preferred object. This should lessen impact on clients who only display primary objects. For servers, a change in the indexing model used should be sufficient.
5. Compatibility
This proposal is not backward compatible. By keeping the preferred object-id the same, it should minimize the impact.
6. Proof/Need of Concept Examples
None.