Allow Request Body (request-message) on HTTP_DELETE* functions

Incidentally, if one must do such a thing on the IBM i, the curl command string:

curl -X DELETE -d '{"foo": "bar"}' 'https://yourhost/yourroute'

... will pass your desired non-Standard DELETE request with the request body {"foo": "bar"}. This is how it would be implemented were it to be added as a Db2 service (through calling the underlying libcurl library rather than the curl command line interface). The command-line curl command can be called in PASE from CL/RPG/Db2 in ways well-documented throughout the IBM i open source community.

The CAAC has reviewed this IBM Idea and recommends that IBM not implement this request.

RFC9110 https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9110.html#name-delete states, "A client SHOULD NOT generate content in a DELETE request unless it is made directly to an origin server that has previously indicated, in or out of band, that such a request has a purpose and will be adequately supported. An origin server SHOULD NOT rely on private agreements to receive content, since participants in HTTP communication are often unaware of intermediaries along the request chain."

RFC9110 further states, "[C]ontent received in a DELETE request has no generally defined semantics, cannot alter the meaning or target of the request, and might lead some implementations to reject the request and close the connection because of its potential as a request smuggling attack."

If IBM were to provide such a feature, IBM cannot guarantee that it will work in all contexts, even if the Client and Server agree on the semantics, due to intelligent request filtering by intermediaries such as firewalls (as alluded to in the RFC), leading to ambiguous network scenarios.

Note that query strings ("?foo=bar&arf=woof") are allowed in the URL for the DELETE request, so any necessary information can be passed in that fashion. See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Reference/Methods/DELETE

Background: The COMMON Americas Advisory Council (CAAC) members have a broad range of experience in working with small and medium-sized IBM i customers. CAAC has a key role in working with IBM i development to help assess the value and impact of individual IBM Ideas on the broader IBM i community and has therefore reviewed your Idea.

For more information about CAAC, see www.common.org/caac

Carmelita Ruvalcaba - CAAC Program Manager

IBM will use this Idea as input to planning, but no commitment is made or implied. This Idea will be updated in the future if IBM implements it. IBM will use votes and comments from others in the community to help prioritize this Idea.

This request is to support an uncommon combination of HTTP options. While it can be implemented, we need additional community support before it will be considered to add to our future plan.

Db2 for i development team
IBM Power Systems Development