Re: URL +1, LSID -1

> I would also like to see an LSID HOWTO for consumers of LSIDs. Perhaps
> this exists already. But right now, if I get an LSID in some email, I
> haven't a clue how to track down an LSID resolver that knows about it
> (although via google I learned that sourceforge might be a good place
> to start).

There are a number of ways to resolve LSIDs. There is a FireFox  
plugin available from http://lsid.sourceforge.net. With this  
installed, lsidres:urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:1762007 becomes  
resolvable. There are also HTTP proxies, such as http:// 
lsid.zoology.gla.ac.uk/urn:lsid:ubio.org:namebank:1762007 that I  
wrote, and the BioPathways resolver (http://lsid.biopathways.org/ 
resolver/).

Lastly, I wrote a PHP client to test LSID servers, which is online at  
http://linnaeus.zoology.gla.ac.uk/~rpage/lsid/. I use this to debug  
both my client code, and test LSID servers.

Regards

Rod


On 12 Jul 2007, at 11:57, Jonathan Rees wrote:

>
> On 7/11/07, Mark Wilkinson <markw@illuminae.com> wrote:
>>
>> On Tue, 10 Jul 2007 23:34:10 -0700, Alan Ruttenberg
>> <alanruttenberg@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > The cost of using an http identifier, and providing a 303 and a  
>> pointer
>> > to more information, instead of using an LSID, seems a small  
>> cost to
>> > satisfy this community.
>>
>>
>> Please correct me if I am wrong - I just re-read the spec for 303  
>> and I
>> believe I am interpreting it properly... though I may not be!
>
> The TAG has the same worry as me, that a 200 response will be *taken*
> to mean that the resource is an IR, when it isn't. So the TAG says
> please don't give a 200 in that case, return anything else instead.
> They came up with 303 as the most likely something else. I agree that
> this is not part of the HTTP spec. It is merely a recommendation
> intended to teach the difference between an IR and a non-IR.
> (citation: httpRange-14)  This is not elegant, and not very
> well-defined or reliable, but it is better than nothing.
>
> not info resource --> not 200 --> how about 303
>
>> What
>> worries me about the 303 solution (other than that we are not  
>> using it for
>> it's primary purpose [1]) is that the redirection can only be to a
>> *single* resource, specified in the Location header.
>
> If this is an important functionality then it can be provided in a
> variety of ways - a mere matter of programming. LSID resolver happens
> to be the only way that comes ready made. But the functionality
> doesn't need to be tied to the use of LSIDs.
>
>> As I've said before, I think that LSIDs solve a *very specific  
>> subset* of
>> problems that don't seem to be raised very often in the  
>> discussions on
>> this list because they aren't "typical" situations... at the moment!
>
> I'm willing to believe this. I think I'm close to having a short list
> of the features that LSID users like, and I think we can reproduce
> most or all of them inside the http: URI scheme. But I would really
> like to hear from you and other LSID users which features they find
> essential. Ability to get metadata (assuming you have a resolver) is
> one good feature, ability to spot unchanging "pieces of data" is
> another, and you've given another above. The answers can be brief,
> since the rationales have already been presented.
>
> I would also like to see an LSID HOWTO for consumers of LSIDs. Perhaps
> this exists already. But right now, if I get an LSID in some email, I
> haven't a clue how to track down an LSID resolver that knows about it
> (although via google I learned that sourceforge might be a good place
> to start).
>
>

----------------------------------------
Professor Roderic D. M. Page
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DEEB, IBLS
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