Re: registering formats in the web [uriMediaType-9] [Fwd: Request for MIME media type Application/Personal Tree - prs.]

On 2/19/06, Paul Libbrecht <paul@activemath.org> wrote:
> I am currently biased towards copy and paste or drag-and-drop so this
> may explain my troubles to understand.
>
> As long as the need for parameters does not arise, I think it is safe to
> ignore them.
> Only when a pair of applications actually needs a type with parameter,
> will there be the need to support them.
>
> I expect, indeed transfer mechanisms, such as copy-and-paste or
> drag-and-drop libraries, as well as http libraries and intermediates to
> pass them around... but that is not a challenge, or ?

Passing the information around isn't a problem, it's how it's
interpreted which is relevant (to your earlier question).

> I am not sure I understand what dispatching means in the next paragraph.

"Dispatching" is a term from an implementation POV that refers to the
process of choosing and activating a chunk of code to process the
inbound data.  From a messaging POV, the analogue is the authoritative
association of a representation to a specification which defines its
semantics[1].  On the Web, both the code is chosen, and the
specification identified, via Internet media type names, without
consideration for the values of any parameters which may adorn the
name.  Parameter values are simply handed to the processing code.

 [1] http://www.w3.org/2001/tag/doc/mime-respect

Mark.
--
Mark Baker.  Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA.       http://www.markbaker.ca

Received on Wednesday, 22 February 2006 00:31:55 UTC