Re: The "data:" URI scheme considered helpful

David Carlisle wrote:
> 
> --text follows this line--
> 
> Hmm  stop being so reasonable:)
> 
> data:  clearly doesn't have the required properties of being
> deliberately provocative that mailto:  has...
> 
> Actually that's a good plan, I think I'll start using data: in any
> examples I post on xsl lists/newsgroups. With the current uncertainties
> I couldn't in good conscience recommend that anyone does xsmlns:a="a"
> anymore.

I recommend mid:... for this purpose, i.e. choosing a URI for
a namespace without taking on the burden of providing documentation
on demand. Write yourself a mail message,
send it, and take the message-id and make a mid: URI out of it.

The message doesn't really have to say anything, but here's
a typical use I can see:

	To: connolly@w3.org
	Subject: a namespace I'm considering

	I'm designing a little XML vocabulary/namespace/whatever...
	I'm not really sure about the details, so I reserve
	the right to change the specification of this vocabulary
	at will. If I ever decide to change it in such a way
	that's not backwards compatible, I'll probably make
	up a new URI for it... but I might just decide
	to keep the same name and just stop supporting
	the old, incompatible documents.

	Let the identifier of this message serve as the
	identifier of this namespace.

I suppose you could use the data: URI scheme similarly...
mid: explioits the email infrastructure for (pretty much)
guaranteeing you wont' collide with somebody else.
And data: doesn't feel right for some reason that I
can't put my finger on just now...


-- 
Dan Connolly, W3C http://www.w3.org/People/Connolly/

Received on Saturday, 20 May 2000 22:14:15 UTC