RE: Uniform access to descriptions

Hello Xioshu,

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Xiaoshu Wang [mailto:wangxiao@musc.edu]
> Sent: 09 April 2008 13:45
> To: Williams, Stuart (HP Labs, Bristol)
> Cc: Alan Ruttenberg; Pat Hayes; Jonathan Rees; www-tag@w3.org
> WG; Phil Archer
> Subject: Re: Uniform access to descriptions

[snip]

> > Just a question about this document that you have in mind:
> >     How are you identifing it? [eg. by name, say in a filing system;
> > by bit/sequence of its serialisation...]
> Let me suggest to distinguish the meaning of "denote" and "identify".
> Hence, a URI is a name that *denotes* a resource.  But a *resource* (not
> URI) can be identified in many ways.  For instance, we can *logically*
> identify a resource by a set of logic assertions, or casually
> *identified* in natural languages, pictures, etc.

Yes... I understand that.

FWIW: I asked the question the way I asked it, with deliberate intent - and I'd like Alan to feel free to answer that question.

I'm wanting to understand Alan's conceptualisation of a document. When he inspects a document what makes it the same document as the very one that he inspected earlier (particular in view of his question, a Microsoft Word document).

> A URI can be bound with any transportation protocol to retrieve various
> representation that can be used to *identify* a resource.

Yes...

> Within the
> web, we can then say that a URI denotes a "resource"

Yes... and that is what we appear to do...

> but a particular
> HTTP GET of a URI *identifies* the resource's representation,

Yes....

> which is
> obviously in its electronic form.  But URI doesn't have to be bound with
> HTTP.

Yes...

> Our snail mail system might in the future use URI too.  But by
> snail mail GET of a URI would *identify* a different *representation* of
> the resource denoted by that URI.

Yes... but also depending on whether you regard a *representation* as a message/event or a bit sequence... in the former case the representation is necessarily different because it is a different event even thought it may 'transport' an identical bit sequence to an earlier message in the same or a different channel. (token/type).

>  But this time, it could be in print
> or in some other medium form.

Yes...

>
> I hope this might help.

I don't I've said anything, recently or previously, that would suggest that I disagree with any of the points you make above.

> Xiaoshu

Thanks,

Stuart
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Received on Wednesday, 9 April 2008 13:07:19 UTC