Side discussion of tel: and mailto: (was: The 'javascript' scheme)

Paul Hoffman wrote:
> 
> At 9:15 AM +0100 11/9/06, Julian Reschke wrote:
>> You need to install software on your machine (not in the browser) that
>> knows how to handle "tel" URIs.
> 
> I believe that even if the machine has software for handling "tel" URIs,
> that software will not "obtain a representation" of a phone number: it
> will initiate a phone call.

If it did so without further user interaction, it could easily be in violation
of web architectural principles about "safe interactions" (e.g. by incurring the
cost of a phone call)
[http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/REC-webarch-20041215/#safe-interaction].

>> I *do* get a representation (presented, as it happens, in my mail
>> client) when I
>> enter this URI into my browser:
>>
>>   mailto:example@example.org?body=hello
> 
> It is a representation, but it is a representation of a message, not of
> an internet resource, IMO.

I do broadly agree with that point (except that I might say its a representation
of a message composition facility rather than a message, but that's an
unimportant detail here).

#g

-- 
Graham Klyne
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