v3.x: Does the Encoding Object's contentType allow whitespace around commas? #4788

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1. handrews

   added

   clarificationrequests to clarify, but not change, part of the specrequests to clarify, but not change, part of the spec

   media and encodingIssues regarding media type support and how to encode data (outside of query/path params)Issues regarding media type support and how to encode data (outside of query/path params)

   on Jul 17, 2025
2. handrews commented on May 12, 2026

   

   handrews

   on May 12, 2026

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   @ralfhandl is there any reason to restrict this? It's supposed to be analogous to Accept, which allows whitespace. Perhaps it is different in German but in English "comma-separated list" usually allows a space. You can see a clear example of this at the very end of §8.6 of RFC9110:

   a recipient of a Content-Length header field value consisting of the same decimal value repeated as a comma-separated list (e.g, "Content-Length: 42, 42")

   This usage is consistent throughout RFC9110, which I think is a pretty solid precedent. I think we should close this, or at most add a note emphasizing that whitespace is allowed. But really, I think 9110 is the governing precedent here.
3. handrews

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   on May 12, 2026
4. karenetheridge commented on May 12, 2026

   

   karenetheridge

   on May 12, 2026

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   Personally I would not interpret "comma-separated list" as allowing whitespace if it was not explicitly stated. But indeed whitespace after commas is common in other places in RFC9110 so it would seem reasonable to allow it.

   The best way to resolve this is to provide an ABNF for this field (using definitions established in RFC9110):

   contentType = media-range *( "," OWS media-range )
   
5. miqui commented on May 12, 2026

   

   miqui

   on May 12, 2026

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   Personally I would not interpret "comma-separated list" as allowing whitespace if it was not explicitly stated. But indeed whitespace after commas is common in other places in RFC9110 so it would seem reasonable to allow it.

   Same here
6. handrews commented on May 12, 2026

   

   handrews

   on May 12, 2026

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   I personally think that anything that is related to RFC9110 inherently uses its parsing rules because RFC9110 is a normative reference, but if someone feels compelled to write a PR for this, please go ahead. If no one is motivated to write a PR, let's close this.
7. github-actions

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   Needs attentionThe author has replied and people with triage rights should take action.The author has replied and people with triage rights should take action.

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   on May 12, 2026
8. karenetheridge

   added 4 commits that reference this issue on May 19, 2026

   include an ABNF for contentType

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   This issue will close once commit b44e42d is merged into the 'main' branch.

   b44e42d

   include an ABNF for contentType

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   This issue will close once commit 920a9fb is merged into the 'main' branch.

   920a9fb

   include an ABNF for contentType

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   This issue will close once commit 9bcf685 is merged into the 'main' branch.

   9bcf685

   include an ABNF for contentType

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   This issue will close once commit 7bd7fb0 is merged into the 'main' branch.

   7bd7fb0
9. karenetheridge

   added 6 commits that reference this issue on Jun 4, 2026

   include an ABNF for contentType

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   This issue will close once commit c09670d is merged into the 'main' branch.

   c09670d

   include an ABNF for contentType

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   This issue will close once commit a283add is merged into the 'main' branch.

   a283add

   include an ABNF for contentType

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   This issue will close once commit 1d3803b is merged into the 'main' branch.

   1d3803b

   include an ABNF for contentType

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   This issue will close once commit f928af5 is merged into the 'main' branch.

   f928af5

   include an ABNF for contentType

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   This issue will close once commit 51922cc is merged into the 'main' branch.

   51922cc

   include an ABNF for contentType

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   This issue will close once commit 8f12af7 is merged into the 'main' branch.

   8f12af7
10. karenetheridge

    added a commit that references this issue on Jul 8, 2026

    include an ABNF for contentType (amended) (OAI#5324)

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    This issue will close once commit 16734c2 is merged into the 'main' branch.

    16734c2
11. lornajane

    closed this as completedin f928af5on Sep 10, 2026