RE: ISSUE-38 (whyAccessUrl): Drop dcat:accessUrl, use the URI of the dcat:Download resource instead [dcat]

Hi,

Not using dcat:accessURL for dcat:Download and using the URL as the URI for the dcat:Download resource (As described below by Ed ) works perfectly fine as long as the publisher is completely sure that the URL is a direct download link. 

When the publisher is not providing a direct download link or when not sure about what is at the end of the link, the more general dcat:Distribution should be used. In this case, dcat:accessURL is needed and a different URI for the dcat:Distribution is necessary (otherwise, format and size description will be misleading).

In general, it seems that this piece of information is not usually very clear/known for the publishers (whether it is a direct download link or a link to a splash page where the dataset can be downloaded), thus dcat:Distribution might be used very often and I do not think that having a special representation for dcat:Download (where the URI is the access link) might be a right way to go (it will complicate querying also).

Comments?

Regards,
Fadi

-----Original Message-----
From: public-egov-ig-request@w3.org [mailto:public-egov-ig-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of eGovernment Interest Group Issue Tracker
Sent: 27 May 2010 15:42
To: public-egov-ig@w3.org
Subject: ISSUE-38 (whyAccessUrl): Drop dcat:accessUrl, use the URI of the dcat:Download resource instead [dcat]


ISSUE-38 (whyAccessUrl): Drop dcat:accessUrl, use the URI of the dcat:Download resource instead [dcat]

http://www.w3.org/egov/IG/track/issues/38


Raised by: Ed Summers
On product: dcat

Raised by Ed Summers:
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-egov-ig/2010May/0056.html


I must admit I am a little bit perplexed by the use of dcat:accessUrl to describe a dcat:Download. The usage note indicates that:

"""
accessUrl of the Download distribution should be a direct download link (a one-click access to the data file).
"""

It makes me wonder if we should instead be recommending that the URI for the dcat:Download be the actual URI for the download. So for example:

 ex:dataset1 a dcat:Dataset ;
     dcat:distribution ex:download1 .

 ex:download1 a dcat:Download ;
     dcat:accessURL  <http://example.gov/downloads/1> ;
     dct:format "text/csv" .

would become:

 ex:dataset1 a dcat:Dataset ;
     dcat:distribution <http://example.gov/downloads/1> .

 <http://example.gov/downloads/1> dct:format "text/csv" .

See how the intermediary resource (probably a blank node in practice) goes away? I think the same could be said of dcat:Feed.

Received on Tuesday, 1 June 2010 13:53:15 UTC