diff --git a/src/main/java/it/inaf/oats/vospace/datamodel/NodeProperties.java b/src/main/java/it/inaf/oats/vospace/datamodel/NodeProperties.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c704b4ae9582aebe77a7afa8f79471b61f83b2de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/it/inaf/oats/vospace/datamodel/NodeProperties.java
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+/*
+ * To change this license header, choose License Headers in Project Properties.
+ * To change this template file, choose Tools | Templates
+ * and open the template in the editor.
+ */
+package it.inaf.oats.vospace.datamodel;
+
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.stream.Collectors;
+import net.ivoa.xml.vospace.v2.Node;
+
+/**
+ *
+ * @author bertocco
+ */
+public class NodeProperties {
+
+
+ private NodeProperties() { }
+
+ public static final String AVAILABLE_SPACE_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#availableSpace"; // the amount of space available within a container
+ public static final String INITIAL_CREATION_TIME_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#btime"; // the initial creation time
+ public static final String CONTRIBUTOR_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#contributor"; // an entity responsible for making contributions to this resource
+ public static final String COVERAGE_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#coverage"; // a spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
+ public static final String CREATOR_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#creator"; // an entity primarily responsible for making the resource
+ public static final String STATUS_CHANGE_TIME_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#ctime"; // the status change (aka metadata modification) time
+ public static final String DATE_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#date"; // a point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
+ public static final String DESCRIPTION_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#description"; // an account of the resource
+ public static final String FORMAT_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#format"; // the file format, physical medium or dimensions of the resource
+ public static final String GROUP_READ_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#groupread"; // the list of groups which can only read this resource delimiter-separated
+ public static final String GROUP_WRITE_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#groupwrite"; // the list of groups which can read and write to this resource delimiter-separated
+ public static final String IDENTIFIER_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#identifier"; // an unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
+ public static final String LANGUAGE_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#language"; // a language of the resource
+ public static final String CORE_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#length"; // the length or size of a resource
+ public static final String MODIFICATION_TIME_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#mtime"; // the data modification time
+ public static final String PUBLIC_READ_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#publicread"; // whether this resource is world readable
+ public static final String PUBLISHER_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#publisher"; // an entity responsible for making the resource available
+ public static final String QUOTA_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#quota"; // the value of a system quota on the resource
+ public static final String RELATED_RESOURCE_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#relation"; // a related resource
+ public static final String RIGHTS_ON_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#rights"; // information about rights held in and over the resource
+ public static final String RESOURCE_RELATED_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#source"; // a related resource from which the described resource is derived
+ public static final String SUBJECT_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#subject"; // the topic of the resource
+ public static final String TITLE_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#title"; // a name given to the resource
+ public static final String TYPE_URI = "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#type"; // the nature or genre of the resource
+
+
+ // Returns all properties stored inside the node under the requested
+ // property URI.
+ public static List<String> getNodePropertyByURI(Node node, String propertyURI) {
+
+ List<String> propertyList = node.getProperties().stream()
+ .filter((i) -> i.getUri()
+ .equals(propertyURI))
+ .map((i) -> i.getValue())
+ .collect(Collectors.toList());
+
+ return propertyList;
+ }
+
+ public static List<String> parsePropertyStringToList(String property) {
+ // If separator changes, this method should remain consistent
+ // For now it assumes that " " is the separator
+ String separator = " ";
+
+ String trimmedProperty = property.trim();
+ if (trimmedProperty.isEmpty()) {
+ return List.of();
+ }
+
+ return List.of(trimmedProperty.split(separator));
+
+ }
+
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/it/inaf/oats/vospace/datamodel/NodeUtils.java b/src/main/java/it/inaf/oats/vospace/datamodel/NodeUtils.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..853afb8cd3ffeb6fd266e8ef3638d5ca05c8dd8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/it/inaf/oats/vospace/datamodel/NodeUtils.java
@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+/*
+ * To change this license header, choose License Headers in Project Properties.
+ * To change this template file, choose Tools | Templates
+ * and open the template in the editor.
+ */
+package it.inaf.oats.vospace.datamodel;
+
+import java.security.Principal;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import net.ivoa.xml.vospace.v2.Node;
+
+
+public class NodeUtils {
+
+
+
+ /**
+ * Slash is a special character in defining REST endpoints and trying to
+ * define a PathVariable containing slashes doesn't work, so the endpoint
+ * has been defined using "/nodes/**" instead of "/nodes/{path}" and the
+ * path is extracted manually parsing the request URL.
+ */
+ public static String getPathFromRequestURLString(String requestUrlString ) {
+
+ String[] split = requestUrlString.split("/nodes/");
+
+ String path = "/";
+ if (split.length == 2) {
+ path += split[1];
+ }
+ return path;
+ }
+
+ // This method assumes that URL is in the format /node1/node2/...
+ // multiple slashes as a single separator are allowed
+ // But the output has only single slash separators
+ public static String getParentPath(String path) {
+
+ String[] parsedPath = path.split("[/]+");
+
+ if (parsedPath.length < 2 || !parsedPath[0].isEmpty()) {
+ throw new IllegalArgumentException();
+ }
+
+ StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+ sb.append("/");
+
+ for (int i = 1; i < parsedPath.length - 1; i++) {
+ sb.append(parsedPath[i]);
+ if (i < parsedPath.length - 2) {
+ sb.append("/");
+ }
+ }
+
+ return sb.toString();
+ }
+
+
+ public static List<String> subPathComponents(String path) {
+
+ List resultList = new ArrayList<String>();
+
+ String[] pathComponents = path.split("[/]+");
+
+ if (pathComponents.length == 0) {
+
+ // Manage root node
+ resultList.add("/");
+
+ } else {
+
+ // Manage all precursors in full path
+ String parentPath="/";
+ for (int i = 1; i < pathComponents.length; i++) {
+ parentPath = parentPath + pathComponents[i] + "/";
+ // "I'm managing path = " + parentPath.substring(0, parentPath.length()-1));
+ resultList.add(parentPath.substring(0, parentPath.length()-1));
+
+ }
+
+ }
+
+ return resultList;
+
+ }
+
+ public static boolean checkIfWritable(Node myNode, String userName, List<String> userGroups) {
+
+ List<String> nodeOwner
+ = NodeProperties.getNodePropertyByURI(myNode, NodeProperties.CREATOR_URI);
+ //= getNodePropertyByURI(
+ // toBeDeletedNode, "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#creator");
+
+
+ if (nodeOwner == null
+ || nodeOwner.isEmpty()
+ || !nodeOwner.get(0).equals(userName)) {
+ // Node owner check has failed: let's check if user can write
+ // due to group privileges
+
+ // If the user doesn't belong to any groups throw exception
+ if (userGroups == null || userGroups.isEmpty()) {
+ return false;
+ }
+
+ List<String> groupWritePropValues
+ = NodeProperties.getNodePropertyByURI(myNode,
+ NodeProperties.GROUP_WRITE_URI);
+
+ // If groupwrite property is absent in Parent Node throw exception
+ if (groupWritePropValues == null
+ || groupWritePropValues.isEmpty()) {
+ return false;
+ }
+
+ List<String> nodeGroups
+ = NodeProperties.parsePropertyStringToList(groupWritePropValues.get(0));
+
+ if (nodeGroups.isEmpty()
+ || !nodeGroups.stream()
+ .anyMatch((i) -> userGroups.contains(i))) {
+ return false;
+ }
+
+ }
+
+ // DUPLICATED code from CreateNodeController - END
+ return true;
+ }
+
+}