Re: Last Call: <draft-ietf-appsawg-json-patch-08.txt> (JSON Patch) to Proposed Standard

[Barry Leiba <[e-mail]>]

> Personally -- to me, it seems like you're getting hung up on the word "add."
...
> "add" means what the format definition says it means, because otherwise
> we have to rationalise all of the different systems people might use it with
> to make sense.

OK, I'll buy that.  Then let's take a different approach, and make it
clearer that it's Humpty Dumpty's version of "add", so maybe neither I
nor Alice will get hung up on it:

OLD
   The "add" operation adds a new value at the target location. The
   operation object MUST contain a "value" member that specifies the
   value to be added.
NEW
   The "add" operation performs the following function, depending upon
   what the target location references (see details below):

   o  If the target location specifies an array index, a new value is
      inserted into the array at the specified index.

   o  If the target location specifies an object member that does not
      already exist, a new member is added to the object.

   o  If the target location specifies an object member that does
      exist, that member's value is replaced.
END

That may be wordier than we need, but I think it makes the point...
feel free to wordsmith.  With something like that, I think we can say
that we had to pick a name, "add" was picked, and it means exactly
what we choose it to mean - neither more nor less.  And that's glory
for you.

Barry