Provide definition for the reply

[Tenischev]

In current Spec v3 pre-release the reply appear first time as operationObject field:

spec/spec/asyncapi.md

Line 843 in abfae49

<a name="operationObjectReply"></a>reply | [Operation Reply Object](#operationReplyObject) &#124; [Reference Object](#referenceObject) | The definition of the reply in a request-reply operation.

with the description The definition of the reply in a request-reply operation.
But Spec v3 has no definition or describing what is meant under request-reply operation.
@jonaslagoni wrote the blog post describing what it could be, but the blog post is not the Specification. Blog post could be a spice for a cake, but not the cake.

I suggest to provide definition of reply in the Definitions section, maybe as subpart of Message definition.

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[smoya]

I suggest to provide definition of reply in the Definitions section, maybe as subpart of Message definition.

Wondering if it is not already covered by the description of what an Operation Reply Object means.

Describes the reply part that MAY be applied to an Operation Object. If an operation implements the request/reply pattern, the reply object represents the response message.

[Tenischev]

For me description of Operation Reply Object and definition of Message are a bit not match.

Message:

Since a message is a generic mechanism, it can support multiple interaction patterns such as event, command, request, or response.

Reply Object:

If an operation implements the request/reply pattern, the reply object represents the response message.

I feel here a gap, like "what exactly is request?", consequently "is it send or receive operation?". (For me now it's clear, but I feel some degree of uncertain, when read Spec first time)

If we have a look of EIP request-reply definition, I would say it a bit more solid

Send a pair of Request-Reply messages, each on its own channel.

Request-Reply has two participants:

Requestor – Sends a request message and waits for a reply message.
Replier – Receives the request message and responds with a reply message.

[derberg]

Defenitely like the idea of adding another definition, as this is what Definitions are for in the spec, to introduce the concept

@Tenischev do you have a suggestion for a good paragraph?

[Tenischev]

@derberg to be consistent I also provide changes in other part of document related with reply or "response" message.

Message

A message is the mechanism by which information is exchanged via a channel between servers and applications. A message MUST contain a payload and MAY also contain headers. The headers MAY be subdivided into protocol-defined headers and header properties defined by the application which can act as supporting metadata. The payload contains the data, defined by the application, which MUST be serialized into a format (JSON, XML, Avro, binary, etc.). Since a message is a generic mechanism, it can support multiple interaction patterns such as event, command, request, or reply.

Reply message

A reply is a special type of message used in the request-reply interaction pattern and can only be used in combination with a request message. In the request-reply interaction pattern, messages are defined as follows: Sender sends a request message and waits for a reply message, while Receiver receives the request message and responds with a reply message.

---

Operation Object

Describes a specific operation.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
reply	Operation Reply Object | Reference Object	The definition of the reply part in a request-reply interaction. When this property is defined, the messages represent request messages in a request-reply interaction.

---

Operation Reply Object

Describes the reply part that MAY be applied to an Operation Object. If an operation implements the request-reply interaction pattern, this object represents the reply address/channel and the reply message.

---

Message Bindings Object

Map describing protocol-specific definitions for a message.

Fixed Fields

Field Name	Type	Description
http	HTTP Message Binding	Protocol-specific information for an HTTP message, i.e., a request or a reply.

[derberg]

@Tenischev can you show it in a draft PR 🙏🏼

[Tenischev]

@derberg did you have a chance to have a look on draft PR?

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