Change Proposal for ISSUE-174, was: ISSUE-174 link-semantic-conflict: Chairs Solicit Proposals

On 2011-09-21 03:39, Sam Ruby wrote:
> 'potential conflict between Link: and <link> semantics'
>
> Per the decision policy, at this time the chairs would like to solicit
> volunteers to write Change Proposals.
>
> http://www.w3.org/html/wg/tracker/issues/174
> http://dev.w3.org/html5/decision-policy/decision-policy.html#escalation
>
> If no Change Proposals are written by October 21st, 2011 this issue will
> be closed without prejudice.
>
> Issue status link:
> http://dev.w3.org/html5/status/issue-status.html#ISSUE-174
>
> - Sam Ruby
> ...

SUMMARY

The decision on ISSUE-27 [1] has resulted in a situation where the 
semantics of link relations may depend on where they appear in (Link: 
HTTP header field vs HTML content).

This should be clarified.

RATIONALE

[2] states:

"HTTP Link: headers, if supported, must be assumed to come before any 
links in the document, in the order that they were given in the HTTP 
entity header. (URLs in these headers are to be processed and resolved 
according to the rules given in the relevant specification; the rules of 
this specification don't apply.) [HTTP] [WEBLINK]"

This is not as clear as it should, as, for some reason, it talks about 
the "URLS in these headers", as opposed to header field values in 
general (which also include the link relation).

DETAILS

Replace the paragraph cited above by:

"HTTP Link: header fields, if supported, must be assumed to come before 
any links in the document, in the order that they were given in the HTTP 
message. These header fields are to be processed according to the rules 
given in the relevant specifications. [HTTP] [WEBLINK]

Note: registration of relation types in HTTP Link: header fields is 
distinct from HTML5 link types, and thus their semantics can be 
different from same-named HTML5 types."

(where "HTML5 link types" could link to 
<http://dev.w3.org/html5/spec/Overview.html#linkTypes>)

IMPACT

1. Positive Effects

Clarifies the impact of the resolution of ISSUE-27 with respect to 
potential relation name conflicts.

2. Negative Effects

None.

3. Conformance Classes Changes

None.

4. Risks

None.

REFERENCES

[1] <http://www.w3.org/html/wg/tracker/issues/27>
[2] <http://dev.w3.org/html5/spec/Overview.html#the-link-element>

Received on Sunday, 16 October 2011 19:12:13 UTC