HTTP status code for a partial successful request
Solution 1:
I've dealt with a very similar issue. In this case, I returned a
207 Multi-Status
Now, this isn't strict HTTP, it's part of the WebDAV extension, so if you don't have control over the client too, then this isn't good for you. If you do, you could do something like so:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<D:multistatus xmlns:D='DAV:'>
<D:response>
<D:user>user-123</D:user>
<D:status>success</D:status>
</D:response>
<D:response>
<D:user>user-789</D:user>
<D:status>failure</D:status>
</D:response>
</D:multistatus>
But again, this is an HTTP extension, and you need to have control of the client as well.
Solution 2:
I've had the same problem, and I've ended up using two different solutions:
- HTTP return code
202: Accepted
, indicating that the request was ok, but there's no guarantee everything actually went as it should. - Return a normal
200
in the response, but include a list of what didn't pan out in the response body.
The second one usually works best, but the first one is great if you're lazy or use a queue for processing.