HTTP Status Code 208 Already Reported

What does HTTP status code 208 already reported mean?

The HTTP Status Code 208 indicates that the members of a DAV binding have already been listed in a previous section of the multi-status response and will not be displayed again.

To prevent enumerating the internal members of numerous bindings to the same collection several times, use the DAV: propstat response element.

Only one DAV:response element for each binding to a collection inside the scope of the request will be reported with a 200 status, but subsequent DAV:response elements for all other bindings will be reported with a 208 status, and no DAV:response elements for their descendants will be provided.

It’s worth noting that the 208 status only applies to “Depth: infinite” requests, and that it’s especially important when numerous collection bindings result in a bind loop.

In a PROPFIND request, a client can specify the DAV:resource-id attribute to ensure that they can correctly rebuild the binding structure of a collection with numerous bindings to a single resource.

It should not be utilized unless the client has expressed support for this standard using the “DAV” request header for backward compatibility with clients who are unaware of the 208 status code appearing in multistatus response bodies. When a binding loop is detected, a 508 Loop Detected status should be returned instead. If the server finds the 508 before starting the response or in the middle of streaming out a multistatus response, it might return it as the top-level return status.

208 Code References

Example

A client can use the 208 Already Reported flag to inform the server that the same resource (with the same binding) was previously specified. This takes care of both issues.

The 208 status is only seen in bodies and never shows as a true HTTP response code on the status line.

The following is an example from the specification:

References

RFC5842, Section 7.1 – 208 Already Reported

Related Posts

HTTP Status Code 101-Switching Protocols

HTTP Status Code 205 Reset Content

HTTP Status Code 300-Multiple Choices

HTTP Status Code 302 Found

HTTP Status Code 204 – No Content

HTTP Status Code 203 – Non-authoritative Information

HTTP Status Code 207 Multi-Status

FAQs

Conclusion

I hope this article was able to help you with your doubts and queries related to the HTTP status code 208 already reported. Still, if there are any queries related to this topic, feel free to ask in the comment section, we would be happy to assist you. Thank you.