Re: [Fwd: RE: "information resource"]

Sandro Hawke wrote:

> A 404 implies something quite
> different (something about the URI owner I guess!) 

AFAIK it implies: "(Currently) no representation available", IOW: the
resource maps to the empty set (of representations).

> but says nothing
> about whether it's an information resource.

Well, if on Monday the 200 (as you suggest) indicates that the
resource is an information resource, then a 404 on Tuesday IMHO
equally well indicates the contrary - that it is *not* an information
resource.

I think the whole issue about 'resource kind' is pointless (as has been
said already). Consider a trouble ticketing system with a certain
ticket identified by http://example.org/tts/tickets/66546. A GET on the
URL returns an HTML page with all the metadata (owner, dates, etc.) in
there and the complete history of the ticket.

Is the resource (the ticket) 'a document' (roughly: "the stored bytes") or
is it the abstract concept of 'the ticket' (independent from any notion
of physical substance)? Both answers make sense and even if you were able
to clearly choose one, it is pretty likely you'll find yourself using the
other answer in other circumstances in the future.

IMHO the issue is not solvable at the WebArch level and should not be
tried to be solved there.

Personally I favor the approach that if you want to know what a URI identifies,
you go look at how the URI is (collaboratively) used.

Jan

Received on Sunday, 17 October 2004 20:21:54 UTC