body - request data for HTTP requests
The body passed to a PUT, PATCH, POST request contains a list of property names and values to be updated. The body is always passed as values (see also Values, formats and encoding below).
body := values
For elementary source properties, the body just contains a value. Usually, when the source property refers to a complex data type instance, the body is passed as object. In case of array attributes or collection properties, the body is passed as array (see example below).
Empty values in the body will not cause any update. Thus, one may pass empty values for an array in order to update selected elements (e.g. first_name: [ , , "Paul" ], which updates the value for first_name[2], only).
null - For POST and PATCH request the null value can be used for resetting the property to its initial state.
Person: pid, name, first_name[3], address[2]
Address: city, street, number
--> body for PATCH request:
{ pid: "ID123", name: "Miller", first_name: [ null, "Paul" ]
address: [ { city: "Berlin", street: "Grüne Allee", nummer: 51 }, null, null ] }