Re: [web-annotation] Can I refine a state via a selector?

> On 19 Apr 2016, at 08:45, Randall Leeds <notifications@github.com> 
wrote:
> 
> Rob, thank you.
> 
> I accept that the handling of state and selector happens in 
different phases in the course of common annotation interactions. 
You've described this well and your description helpfully reveals the 
assumptions we have that seem to justify the separation, that a state 
is used to fetch a representation and then a selector specifies a 
segment of that representation.
> 
> I can, however, imagine uses where arbitrary refinement simplifies 
processing. In archival situations, where many versions of a single 
URL might already be available, the selector vocabulary could be 
leveraged for search. Perhaps I want to reference the set of archived 
versions of some document that contain some particular text. I could 
represent this query in a structured way using this vocabulary.
> 
> Separating the terms perhaps simplifies processing and renders the 
intent clearer for our common use cases. Structurally, it flattens the
 graph a bit by lifting selector out from a refinement of the state 
(if any). If questioning this is unappealing to everyone, I am not too
 bothered, but I find it interesting to consider. There is an elegance
 to the unification to my brain.=
> 
Referring to the original issue that triggered this discussion 
(whether it is possible to refine a state with a selector), the 
inverse may not make too much sense. The selector typically means 
selecting from a resource that is already acquired via HTTP, whereas 
the state typically restricts what is really retrieved, ie, influences
 the server. In this sense, I do not really see how it would make 
sense to refine a selector with a state.

*If* we decided to merge the concepts of states and selectors, we 
would have to separate them again defining for each structure how it 
can be refined, to account for the aforementioned situation. Ie, we 
would end up defining a subdivision again:-( In contrast, in my mind 
(provided we go ahead with this cross-refinement of a state by a 
selector) the situation becomes conceptually simple with the current 
separation...

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Received on Tuesday, 19 April 2016 08:31:49 UTC