Re: Redefining “resource”

On 25 May 2012, at 15:59, Dan Brickley wrote:
> a) URL is not a current precisely standardised technical term

http://www.w3.org/TR/url/

> b) Neither is 'resource'

Well it's certainly not *precisely* defined!

[[
Resource: A network data object or service that can be identified by a URI, as defined in section 3.2. Resources may be available in multiple representations (e.g. multiple languages, data formats, size, and resolutions) or vary in other ways.
]]
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616.txt

[[
This specification does not limit the scope of what might be a resource; rather, the term "resource" is used in a general sense for whatever might be identified by a URI.  Familiar examples include an electronic document, an image, a source of information with a consistent purpose (e.g., "today's weather report for Los Angeles"), a service (e.g., an HTTP-to-SMS gateway), and a collection of other resources.  A resource is not necessarily accessible via the Internet; e.g., human beings, corporations, and bound books in a library can also be resources.  Likewise, abstract concepts can be resources, such as the operators and operands of a mathematical equation, the types of a relationship (e.g., "parent" or "employee"), or numeric values (e.g., zero, one, and infinity).
]]
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3986.txt

[[
By design a URI identifies one resource. We do not limit the scope of what might be a resource. The term "resource" is used in a general sense for whatever might be identified by a URI. It is conventional on the hypertext Web to describe Web pages, images, product catalogs, etc. as “resources”. The distinguishing characteristic of these resources is that all of their essential characteristics can be conveyed in a message. We identify this set as “information resources.”
]]
http://www.w3.org/TR/webarch/

[[
Any IRI and literal denotes some thing in the universe of discourse. These things are called resources. Anything can be a resource, including physical things, documents, and abstract concepts; the term is synonymous with “entity”.
]]
http://dvcs.w3.org/hg/rdf/raw-file/default/rdf-concepts/index.html#section-fragID

[[
All things described by RDF are called resources, and are instances of the class rdfs:Resource. This is the class of everything.
]]
http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-schema/

[[
The semantics treats all RDF names as expressions which denote. The things denoted are called 'resources', following [RFC 2396], but no assumptions are made here about the nature of resources; 'resource' is treated here as synonymous with 'entity', i.e. as a generic term for anything in the universe of discourse.
]]
http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-mt/

[[
HTTP does not limit what a resource might be; it merely defines an interface that can be used to interact with a resource via HTTP. More information on the scope of URIs and resources can be found in [RFC3986].
]]
http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-httpbis-p1-messaging-19




> 
> Dan
> 
>> That also means that a generic HTTP URI can denote an
>> entity and -- via magic of indirection -- identify a resource that's
>> comprised of RDF content that describes said URI's referent.
>> 
>> We've finally separated 'Entity' and 'Resource'. Hence my comment in an
>> earlier post:
>> 
>> http://dbpedia.org/resource/Paris  identifies a "resource" and "denotes" an
>> entity. As for the actual entity in question, this is clarified when you
>> de-reference the identifier and discern resource content.
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> 
>> Regards,
>> 
>> Kingsley Idehen
>> Founder&  CEO
>> OpenLink Software
>> Company Web: http://www.openlinksw.com
>> Personal Weblog: http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen
>> Twitter/Identi.ca handle: @kidehen
>> Google+ Profile: https://plus.google.com/112399767740508618350/about
>> LinkedIn Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kidehen
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
> 

Received on Friday, 25 May 2012 15:33:23 UTC