Re: [RDFa] ISSUE-42: the @src attribute

Mark,

I think I like what you're saying... I'm still processing it.

The one thing I disagree with is what happens with the following markup:

<div about="#foo" instanceof="foo:bar">
</div>

I think it *should* result in

<#foo> rdf:type foo:bar .

I don't think that much change is needed from what you're suggesting,
though. I've just implemented the following rules in my RDFa JavaScript
parser, and it looks like it works relatively well:

- Consider the concept of an HTML element's "corresponding RDF identity".

- the "corresponding RDF identity" is determined as follows:
  - @resource takes precedence
  - if no @resource, @href is next
  - if no @href, then @id.
  - if no @id, then @about.
  - if all else fails, a bnode.

- the element's corresponding RDF identity is the subject of an rdf:type
triple when instanceof appears.

- the element's corresponding RDF identity is also the object of any
@rel, or the subject of any @rev.

- the subject of a @rel, or the object of a @rev, is determined using
the normal @about rules.

- the subject of an element's *content* is the element's corresponding
RDF identity when @rel, @rev, @href, @resource, or @instanceof appears.
Otherwise, it's @about resolution.


We will clearly discuss this tomorrow, but I wanted to lay this out
because I think this works, and with all existing markup still
consistent. It also seems to make sense when I look at the markup,
though I know that carries little weight :)

-Ben

Mark Birbeck wrote:
> Hi Ivan,
> 
>> Indeed, how do I then set the rdf:type for the _subject_?
> 
> Yes...I apologise for jumping the gun and making it sound easier than
> it is. I realised the same thing as you a few hours after I sent my
> post. In my case I was looking at a use-case that I'm really keen on,
> which goes like this:
> 
> A normal link in your blog might look like this:
> 
>  I found a good recipe in
>  <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0091808189">
>    Canteen Cuisine
>  </a>.
> 
> This is fine as a link to a book, but from the point of view of
> improving the web :) it's not great. Ideally we want to just put an
> 'identifier' in there for the book, and then let people do whatever
> they want to with it--buy it from a bookshop, add it to their
> wish-list, search for other books by the same author, and so on.
> 
> This was quite straightforward with our old syntax, and a few months
> ago I blogged about how great it was that we could use this syntax:
> 
>  <span xmlns:bib="http://somebig.org/" about="urn:ISBN:0091808189"
> class="bib:book">
>    Canteen Cuisine
>  </span>
> 
> Which gives me this triple:
> 
>  <urn:ISBN:0091808189> rdf:type <http://somebig.org/book> .
> 
> Now, as you rightly say Ivan, the problem is that we've recently
> started to define our rdf:type shorthand as being applied to the
> _object_ of a statement. And what's more, we've even started to say
> that if there is no object one should be created. In other words, if
> we have this:
> 
>  <span instanceof="bib:book">
>    Canteen Cuisine
>  </span>
> 
> we get:
> 
>  _:span0 rdf:type <http://somebig.org/book> .
> 
> And again, as you point out, even if we add an @about:
> 
>  <span about="urn:ISBN:0091808189" instanceof="bib:book">
>    Canteen Cuisine
>  </span>
> 
> we don't get the triples I had earlier, unless we were to add some
> convoluted rules to say when @instanceof applies to the bnode and when
> to the @about.
> 
> However, if we go back for a moment the original mark-up, i.e., the
> normal way to do a link:
> 
>  <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0091808189">
>    Canteen Cuisine
>  </a>
> 
> We see it's usual to have a resource with no @rel value--i.e. nothing
> going 'upwards' to connect this to the containing document. Also, if
> we look at the triples I want:
> 
>  <urn:ISBN:0091808189> rdf:type <http://somebig.org/book> .
> 
> you can see that they have no relationship to the containing document;
> I'm saying saying that 'x' is a book, which then allows the software
> to do all sorts of clever things with the identifier.
> 
> Given these two things, why don't we just make this the best practice:
> 
>  <span resource="urn:ISBN:0091808189" instanceof="bib:book">
>    Canteen Cuisine
>  </span>
> 
> It follows the same pattern as @href, I think.
> 
> Now, you could say that this will cause confusion over when to use
> @resource and when to use @about, but if (and it's a big 'if'...but
> not an impossible 'if') we go with the idea that Ben is suggesting, of
> resurrecting the idea that the object (if it's a resource) sets the
> subject for the context, then we would have a situation where the
> following would be perfectly legitimate:
> 
>  <span resource="urn:ISBN:0091808189" instanceof="bib:book">
>    Canteen Cuisine was written by
>    <span property="dc:creator">Marco Pierre White</span>
>  </span>
> 
> In other words, in a world where 'the object sets the subject',
> @resource would be more commonly used than @about, and I think
> probably the only reason you'd need to use @about would be if you
> wanted to put a subject and resource object on the same element.
> 
> Of course, it depends on how we go with resurrecting the 'chaining'
> approach from the original drafts, but if we do go that way, it saves
> having to have two attributes.
> 
> One last thing that people might like to ponder; we discussed on last
> week's telecon how we'd all like to see browsers that are able to make
> use of metadata to create 'smart links' to other resources. (The
> discussion was in the context of whether we needed @resource, or if
> @href was sufficient.) It strikes me that changing the above mark-up
> one more step, so that the <span> is replaced with <a>:
> 
>  <a resource="urn:ISBN:0091808189" instanceof="bib:book">
>    Canteen Cuisine
>  </a>
> 
> might be one way to do it.
> 
> In this mark-up, the author is effectively saying that they want some
> kind of interactive location to be created (denoted by the <a> tag).
> But what 'interactivity' is placed there will depend on an array of
> factors, such as the browser's capabilities, the user's preferences,
> and so on. We might end up with a personalised menu of links and
> actions such as 'add this book to my wish-list', but the main thing is
> that the author is indicating that the information the browser should
> use to create this 'menu of links' is the identifier
> 'urn:ISBN:0091808189'.
> 
> This would mean that there is also a difference between this:
> 
>  <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0091808189">
>    Canteen Cuisine
>  </a>
> 
> which creates a direct link to a web-page, and this:
> 
>  <a resource="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0091808189">
>    Canteen Cuisine
>  </a>
> 
> which creates a cluster of actions and links that are relevant to that
> web-page.
> 
> That's in the 'interesting...but for the future' category, but I
> mention it because it makes me feel that we're heading in the right
> direction with some of the newer things we've decided.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Mark
>

Received on Thursday, 19 July 2007 02:21:25 UTC