[OASIS Issue Tracker] (ODATA-964) Need to clarify nested delta representation

[OASIS Issues Tracker <workgroup_mailer@lists.oasis-open.org>]

Michael Pizzo created ODATA-964:
-----------------------------------

             Summary: Need to clarify nested delta representation
                 Key: ODATA-964
                 URL: https://issues.oasis-open.org/browse/ODATA-964
             Project: OASIS Open Data Protocol (OData) TC
          Issue Type: Bug
            Reporter: Michael Pizzo


In OData-876 we defined a format for representing nested changes in-line within a delta format. In OData-613 we said you could use PATCH to update a collection using a delta format, and added the following to ODATA-876:

"You can use contextUrl (ending in /$delta) on the navigation property to specify that the nested content is a delta content (partial update with patch semantics that can contain added/deleted links and tombstones)."

The above text implies that you can have a delta format nested within a navigation property for an otherwise non-delta format. However, this brings up some issues, since the delta format was defined as a flat format. In particular, 
1) what is the format/content of the contextUrls required for added links, deleted links, and deleted entries
2) are there any restrictions on the scope of the added/delete links (and tombstones); do they have to be at all related to the nav prop?

{ 
  "@odata.type":"#Northwind.Manager",
  "FirstName" : "Patricia",
  "DirectReports@odata.contextUrl" : "#Employees(1)/DirectReports/$delta",
  "DirectReports": [
    {
      "@odata.context":"#Employees/$deletedEntity",
      "id":"Employees(3)",
      "reason":"deleted"
    },
    {
      "@odata.context":"#Employees/$deletedLink",
      "source":"Employees(1)",
      "relationship":"DirectReports",
      "target":"Employees(4)"
    },
    {
      "@odata.context":"#Employees(1)/$link",
      "source":"Employees(1)",
      "relationship":"DirectReports",
      "target":"Employees(5)"
    },
    {
      "@odata.context":"#Employees/DirectReports/$entity",
      "FirstName": "Suzanne",
      "LastName": "Brown"
    }
  ]
}




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