[whatwg] page refresh and resubmitting POST state

[Mike Wilson]

I was thinking about the resubmit problem in a general
context, specifically how browsers could make it possible
for web authors to create POSTing pages that avoids giving 
the dreaded "do you want to resubmit" question at all,
independent of operation.

Authors of Web Applications (the original name of the HTML5 
spec ;-) are continuosly inventing new workarounds for this
problem, all with different advantages and drawbacks, to 
achieve intuitive page handling when using a lot of POSTs. 
Examples of workarounds include PRG, flash scopes, 
conversation ids in URL, temporary cookie assignments, etc.
Defining some support in the browser could replace or
simplify parts of these solutions. 

But first I'd like to know if this subject is within scope 
of the spec. If it is, I could for starters imagine some
prose about the UA asking the "resubmit question" on 
refresh of a page received through POST, as this is what
current browsers do. Unless this is already covered by a
referred spec, of course.

Best regards
Mike

Kornel Lesinski wrote:
> As far as I understand the "resubmit problem" is just sign of 
> poor implementation that violates SHOULD NOT in the HTTP RFC:
> http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec13.html#sec13.13
>
> This problem can be elegantly solved within existing 
> standards: Opera simply goes back in history without 
> resubmitting forms, and resubmits only when user clicks 
> standard Reload button (or F5, etc.)
> 
> -- 
> regards, Kornel Lesinski