ADDR: Addressing discussion

With respect to intermediaries there has been some discussion about
addressing such intermediaries. This mail is intended to stimulate
discussion of this term in order to come up with a suitable defintion that
we can all use. So, here goes;

Premise: Addressing of intermediaries comes in two parts;

1.    Routing. Ensuring the message goes via the a set of nodes on its way
from sender to ultimate receiver

2.    Targeting. Ensuring that parts of the message are processed by a
particular software agent.

Routing could be implicit ( configuration based, perhaps ) or explicit (
sender says go to A, then B, then C ) or ??? ( suggestions please )

Targeting could be at;

a)    a particular software agent on a particular node
b)    a particular software agent on one of a set of nodes
c)    a class of software agent on one of a set of nodes
d)    others I've not thought of yet, suggestions?

Many of us ( myself included ) think this is all bound up in the discussion
of path and whether XML Protocol has explicit support for such a notion. The
thread 'Thoughts on path and intermediaries'[1] may provide useful
background to this discussion for some people as may the whole 'Intermediary
discussion' thread'[2]. I would also recommend people read Mark Nottingham's
treatment of intermediaries[3,4] if they have not already done so.

Note this message is not saying the XML Protocol must support either or both
Routing and Targeting nor that XML Protocol must or must not support the
notion of path. It is merely intended to stimulate discussion.

Regards

Gudge

[1] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/xml-dist-app/2001Feb/0072.html
[2] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/xml-dist-app/2001Feb/0002.html
[3] http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/xml-dist-app/2001Feb/0026.html
[4]
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/xml-dist-app/2001Feb/att-0026/01-xp_inte
rmediaries.html

Received on Sunday, 11 February 2001 11:17:49 UTC