Re: ISSUE http://www.w3.org/2000/03/rdf-tracking/#rdfms-xml-base

I think the current behaviour of ARP is too complex for the current round of
RDF standard. ARP allows xml:base on any element, and then resolves all URIs
using the first enclosing xml:base. In strict mode ARP fails if there is an
xml:base that actually changes the document: i.e. ARP permits an xml:base
that is the same as the document URL or an xml:base on an element which does
not generate any URIs. I will change the strict mode behaviour to exactly
follow the eventual resolution of the WG.

(The rest of this message must be a rehash of the earlier discussion!)

However, given that RDF has to interoperate with the standards of any
enclosing document I think we should honour xml:base expressions outside the
rdf:RDF element.

Without xml:base it is necessary in some circumstances to use a private
channel to pass the base URL of a document. This is highly unsatisfactory,
and permitting an xml:base on the rdf:RDF element itself, also in
non-embedded RDF strikes me as a fair trade-off.

An issue is that honouring xml:base in the enclosing document is
sufficiently hard work that any implementator is likely to follow the ARP
decision and allow it arbitrarily (except in a strict mode).

Jeremy

Received on Friday, 18 January 2002 07:24:01 UTC