Re: RFC defining "Content Negotiation" (was: RE: Regrets)

p.s. i mean the "negotiation" part - not the content-type specifics of
course.

On Wed, 14 Nov 2018 at 21:55, Rob Atkinson <rob@metalinkage.com.au> wrote:

> Good catch Lars,
>
> and that does reinforce the point I was making - QSA based on a specific
> selection from a provided list falls into the definiton of
> content-negotiation, and now we have a formal reference we can cite to
> justify this.
>
> @Annette Greiner <amgreiner@lbl.gov> does this address your concern?
>
> Rob
>
>
> On Wed, 14 Nov 2018 at 21:39, Svensson, Lars <L.Svensson@dnb.de> wrote:
>
>> Rob,
>>
>>
>>
>> When you quote „the IETF RFC“ it seems that you quote the definition from
>> RFC 2616 §1.3 [1]. That RFC is obsoleted through RFC 7230-7234. RFC 7231
>> §3.4 [2] offers a much deeper introduction to the topic including
>> descriptions of “proactive negotiation” (a.k.a server-driven) and “reactive
>> negotiation” (a.k.a. client-driven).
>>
>>
>>
>> I don’t know (yet) how to address that in the prof-conneg document…
>>
>>
>>
>> [1] https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2616#section-1.3
>>
>> [2] https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7231#section-3.4
>>
>>
>>
>> Best,
>>
>>
>>
>> Lars
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Rob Atkinson [mailto:rob@metalinkage.com.au]
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, November 14, 2018 6:53 AM
>> *To:* Simon Cox (E&M, Kensington) <Simon.Cox@csiro.au>
>> *Cc:* Annette Greiner <amgreiner@lbl.gov>; pedro winstley <
>> pedro.win.stan@googlemail.com>; Dataset Exchange Working Group <
>> public-dxwg-wg@w3.org>
>> *Subject:* Re: Regrets
>>
>>
>>
>> Asking for a list of options and picking one is still arguably
>> "negotiation" - although "mediation" might also apply. the IETF RFC merely
>> states
>>
>>
>>
>> " content negotiation
>>
>>      The mechanism for selecting the appropriate representation when
>> servicing a request."
>>
>>
>>
>> It does not explicitly require support for lists of choices.
>>
>>
>>
>> This description
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_negotiation#Agent-driven
>> explicitly includes the case where a list is provided and the client
>> chooses - but I don't see where a specification that defines this is
>> referenced.
>>
>>
>>
>> Then there is the sense that QSA may be multi-valued - there are no
>> examples given, but this fits the sense of a list
>>
>>
>>
>> And finally there are the issues which do need an issue raised IMHO,
>> about use of wildcards and returning a more specific profile given
>> identifier of a general one. (these both occur in MIME type conneg, you
>> dont have to specify sub-profiles of MIME types, but you may receive one.)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, 14 Nov 2018 at 15:53, <Simon.Cox@csiro.au> wrote:
>>
>> Thanks for clarification Annette. Indeed, I had not picked up the
>> distinction.
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Annette Greiner [mailto:amgreiner@lbl.gov]
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, 14 November, 2018 15:24
>> *To:* Cox, Simon (L&W, Clayton) <Simon.Cox@csiro.au>;
>> pedro.win.stan@googlemail.com; public-dxwg-wg@w3.org
>> *Subject:* Re: Regrets
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm distinguishing between negotiating for content and requesting
>> specific content. I've not seen negotiation handled this way (where one
>> indicates a list of acceptable options and gets a response chosen by the
>> server), though I admit I may just not be aware of implementations.
>> File-type suffixes allow selection of a particular file; they are not
>> negotiation. Typical REST implementations provide another way to select
>> specific files with a URL string as well, but those are not negotiations
>> either.
>>
>>
>>
>> On 11/13/18 8:49 PM, Simon.Cox@csiro.au wrote:
>>
>> Ø  Enabling multiple ways to handle content negotiation doesn't seem
>> like a win to me, as using query strings is not a standard way of doing
>> content negotiation otherwise, so that is a departure from current conneg
>> standards.
>>
>>
>>
>> Conneg using paths other than HTTP headers has been a common practice.
>> File-type suffixes are the most obvious pattern. The Linked Data API that
>> was developed primarily in UK government circles introduced some ‘standard’
>> QSA keys like _format, _view, _metadata quite a few years ago. It is true
>> that they didn’t get adopted as a standard and I guess you could argue that
>> this was because the idea was flawed, but it was responding to a clear need
>> which I don’t think has gone away.
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Annette Greiner [mailto:amgreiner@lbl.gov <amgreiner@lbl.gov>]
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, 14 November, 2018 13:36
>> *To:* pedro winstley <pedro.win.stan@googlemail.com>
>> <pedro.win.stan@googlemail.com>; public-dxwg-wg@w3.org
>> *Subject:* Re: Regrets
>>
>>
>>
>> I guess I never did it explicitly, but I meant to vote +1 for publishing
>> the prof ontology.
>>
>> Sorry, but for conneg I have to vote -1 until a couple of issues have
>> been addressed.
>>
>> We have two outstanding substantial issues with the conneg doc that I
>> would like to see at least marked prominently. One is the presentation of
>> the QSA stuff as normative. It should not be normative. Alejandra pointed
>> that out quite a while ago, I believe, and I agree. The conneg doc is about
>> a standard for header-based content negotiation, and I think it is beyond
>> our charter to give normative requirements for a QSA-based approach to
>> conneg. I thought this was agreed by the editors, but the document still
>> treats that section as normative.
>>
>> In addition, I opened a second issue about the use of QSA to specify a
>> second way of conducting content negotiation rather than as an example of
>> how to enable discovery and selection of profiles by using query strings
>> (#544).  I strongly supported a requirement for the latter, because it is
>> necessary to enable human users to understand what is available and
>> recognize when the data available are limited to a specific profile.
>> Enabling multiple ways to handle content negotiation doesn't seem like a
>> win to me, as using query strings is not a standard way of doing content
>> negotiation otherwise, so that is a departure from current conneg
>> standards. It may even be harmful, as it creates ambiguity as to whether
>> content negotiation is available, since one would have to check both
>> methods to determine that it was not available. Rather than addressing the
>> issue of how negotiation obscures the choice of profile made behind the
>> scenes for human users, it re-creates that problem in a new form. Finally,
>> this additional approach is introducing new problems because it requires
>> determination of how to handle situations where both types of negotiation
>> are attempted.
>>
>> -Annette
>>
>>
>>
>> On 11/13/18 3:01 PM, pedro winstley wrote:
>>
>> Hi Annette
>>
>> Did you vote on the proposals for publication?
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, 13 Nov 2018, 21:00 Annette Greiner <amgreiner@lbl.gov wrote:
>>
>> Sorry, I won't be able to make today's meeting.
>> -Annette
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Annette Greiner
>>
>> NERSC Data and Analytics Services
>>
>> Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Annette Greiner
>>
>> NERSC Data and Analytics Services
>>
>> Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
>>
>>
>>
>>

Received on Wednesday, 14 November 2018 10:56:58 UTC