Proposed revision to URI fragment text in RDF Concepts (20030411)

Further to additional comments received, I have made further small 
revisions to the text.

(See 
also:  http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-rdfcore-wg/2003Apr/0123.html )

...

In response to last-call comments:
   http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-rdf-comments/2003JanMar/0238.html
   http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-rdf-comments/2003JanMar/0363.html
   -> http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-rdf-comments/2003JanMar/0465.html

I propose to revise the text in section 7 of RDF contexts, per:
   http://www.ninebynine.org/wip/RDF-concepts/20030401/Overview.html#section-fragID
(copy below)

No formal issue was raised because this was treated as editorial, but I did 
indicate to the commenters that some clarification would be made.

#g
--

[[
7. Fragment identifiers

RDF uses an RDF URI Reference, which may include a fragment identifier, as 
a context free identifier for a resource. RFC 2396 [URI] states that the 
meaning of a fragment identifier depends on the MIME content-type of a 
document, i.e. is context dependent.

These apparently conflicting views are reconciled by considering that a URI 
reference in an RDF graph is treated with respect to the MIME type 
application/rdf+xml [RDF-MIME-TYPE]. Given an RDF URI reference consisting 
of an absolute URI and a fragment identifier, the fragment identifer 
identifies the same thing that it does in an application/rdf+xml 
representation of the resource identified by the absolute URI component. Thus:

     * we assume that the URI part (i.e. excluding fragment identifier) 
identifies a resource, which is presumed to have an RDF representation. So 
when eg:someurl#frag is used in an RDF document, eg:someurl is taken to 
designate some RDF document (even when no such document can be retrieved).
     * eg:someurl#frag means the thing that is indicated, according to the 
rules of the application/rdf+xml MIME content-type as a "fragment" or 
"view" of the RDF document at eg:someurl. If the document does not exist, 
or cannot be retrieved, or is available only in formats other than 
application/rdf+xml, then exactly what that view may be is somewhat 
undetermined, but that does not prevent use of RDF to say things about it.
     * the RDF treatment of a fragment identifier allows it to indicate a 
thing that is entirely external to the document, or even to the "shared 
information space" known as the Web. That is, it can be a more general 
idea, like some particular car or a mythical Unicorn.
     * in this way, an application/rdf+xml document acts as an intermediary 
between some Web retrievable documents (itself, at least, also any other 
Web retrievable URIs that it may use, possibly including schema URIs and 
references to other RDF documents), and some set of possibly abstract or 
non-Web entities that the RDF may describe.

This provides a handling of URI references and their denotation that is 
consistent with the RDF model theory and usage, and also with conventional 
Web behavior. Note that nothing here requires that an RDF application be 
able to retrieve any representation of resources identified by the URIs in 
an RDF graph.
]]


-------------------
Graham Klyne
<GK@NineByNine.org>
PGP: 0FAA 69FF C083 000B A2E9  A131 01B9 1C7A DBCA CB5E

Received on Friday, 11 April 2003 09:33:31 UTC