UUID formats
Jeff McAffer OTT (Jeff_McAffer@oti.com)
Wed, 11 Aug 1999 14:19:44 -0400
From: Jeff_McAffer@oti.com (Jeff McAffer OTT)
To: ietf-dav-versioning@w3.org (ietf-dav-versioning)
Message-ID: <1999Aug11.141200.1250.1285138@otismtp.ott.oti.com>
Date: Wed, 11 Aug 1999 14:19:44 -0400
Subject: UUID formats
All,
Wherever we specify that a UUID/GUID is used we must specify the format.
This is because UUID algorithms make guarantees about the uniqueness of
their results relative to other results from that algorithm, not relative
to results of other algorithms. That is, it is perfectly reasonable for
two algorithms to generate exactly the same UUID.
I do NOT propose that we specify/restrict the algorithm which can be used
but rather that a GUID for Delta-V purposes be defined as something of
the form:
algorithm-id:algorithm-result
The algorithm-id can be any value which is globally unique to the
organization managing the server which generated the algorithm-result.
For example, Java package style names like com.foobar... could be used.
Within a particular organization the algorithm-id space can be
subpartitioned at their discretion. A resultant Delta-V GUID would then
look something like (just an example):
com.foo.sha1:897df98fed4a5e87c76c87fffe769eab
This result is unique as long as the organization manages their
algorithm-id appropriately (and the GUID algorithm is reasonable).
Thoughts/comments?
Jeff