Re: Direct References in the Advanced Collections Requirements

My problem with Indirect Reference / Direct Reference is that an indirect
reference in the general terms of computer assembly languages means exactly
what WebDAV-AC is calling a Direct Reference, thus reversing the definition
of (what used to be) a commonly understood term.

My preference would be to use terms that correspond to the nature of
the resource being defined.  Oddly enough, the best fit would be

    redirect reference / indirect reference

but I wouldn't be surprised at the confusion that would result from
swapping the association of indirect reference.  That is why I suggested

    reference / alias

since that at least uses two commonly understood names consistently.
I am not concerned with the precise fit with Apache's config language,
since we have many different configuration directives that allow the
definition of the conceptual equivalent of aliases.

Client-Side / Server-Side is a bit confusing since it has more to do
with the effect of accessing the resource than the resource itself,
though I do prefer it over the current definitions.

>Transparent Reference (one that the user agent can see) / Opaque Reference
>(one that is hidden from the user agent)
>
>Visible Reference / Hidden Reference
>
>Manual Reference (one that the user agent has to dereference) / Automatic
>Reference (one that is dereferenced automatically with no action by the user
>agent needed)

All of these are moving in the wrong direction in terms of understanding
the specification.  I would prefer Reference / Alias over anything that
overemphasized information hiding.

BTW, thanks for organizing the discussion -- it really helps to clarify
the issues.

....Roy

Received on Friday, 18 September 1998 21:26:20 UTC