Re: Content negotiation example needed.

One should be careful about the type of negotiation.

For example most browsers DO send an accept- header that corresponds
correctly 
to the images that they can handle internally, so negotiating GIF and PNG 
can be done and will work.

We actually need to do a more carful research in what browsers support and how
concerning content negotiation and http.

Regards,
Nir.

At 09:37 AM 9/19/99 -0400, Al Gilman wrote:
>I expect Max is right.  Unfortunately, this would mean Tim was wrong.  This
>wrinkle is in the Guidelines because nobody wanted to argue the point with
>Tim Berners-Lee as we were rushing toward Proposed Rec.  HTTP content
>negotiation as it works now is probably too subterranean and magical to
>keep the user sufficiently informed on what is going on and what
>alternatives there are when there are choices being made.
>
>How to maintain the benefits and eliminate the glitches is work for the new
>CC/PP activity.
>
>Al
>
>Reference:
>
>  Comments from Tim Berners-Lee about Web Content Guidelines
>
>  http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/1999JanMar/0403.html
>
>Prior correspondence:
>
>At 05:24 PM 9/19/99 +0900, Masafumi NAKANE wrote:
>>My prefence is not to rely totally upon the HTTP content negotiation
>>when users can choose from multiple languages/content types.  Even
>>when the server supports the content negotiation and the document is
>>provided in a way that can make use of the content negotiation
>>mechanism, it would be better to have links pointing to different
>>versions of the file.  The reasons I prefer this are:
>>
>>1. As far as I know, there are not too many people who have set their
>>   browsers to make use of this mechanism.
>>
>>2. Browsers used in an shared environment may not be configured in a
>>   way that certain user would do.
>>
>>In both cases, users would have no idea if the file is available in
>>different language if there were no links to other versions included
>>in the page.
>>
>>If browsers have easier-to-use interface to configure the language
>>preferences, the case 1 above can be easily resolved, though.
>>
>>    Cheers,
>>Max
>>
>>At Tue, 14 Sep 1999 13:52:13 -0400,
>>Chuck Letourneau <cpl@starlingweb.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> "1) Instead of including links such as "Here is the French version of this
>>> document", use content negotiation so that the French version is served to
>>> clients requesting French versions of documents."
>>> 
>>> Ok... after reading all the responses and viewing the examples, I can
still
>>> barely imagine that this technique is a "Page Author" responsibility
unless
>>> it could be  interpreted to mean:
>>> 
>>> [start proposed wording]
>>> If you create more than one language version or format of a page:
>>> a) ensure that your Web server supports content negotiation, then 
>>> b) depending on the requirements of your server, include the appropriate
>>> markup or name the various files appropriately.  
>>> See your server's documentation or contact your ISP for further help.
>>> [end proposed wording]
>>> 
>>> Some of the example files I looked at modify the file name like this:
>>>  .../filename.html.xx (where xx= nl, en, fr, de, sv, ja, etc.), and some
>>> use <HTML lang="xx"> while some don't.  
>>> 
>>> This issue reminds me that there was once a suggestion that the
>>> Guidelines/Techniques documents have a separate section for HTTP/Server
>>> Accessibility checkpoints.
>>> 
>>> Comments?
>>> 
>>> Regards,
>>> Chuck
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> At 12/09/99 02:47 PM , Al Gilman wrote:
>>> >At 11:45 AM 9/12/99 -0400, Chuck Letourneau wrote:
>>> >>Thanks to everybody who responded to my request for information about
>
>>> >>content negotiation.  I am now going to read through it carefully
>>> >>(including the external references provided) and try to synthesize
>>> >>something simple for the curriculum.  I will post my result to the
>list for
>>> >>your consideration.
>>> >>
>>> >>Regards,
>>> >>Chuck Letourneau
>>> >>
>>> >
>>> >A good starting point is Koen Holtzman's page on the subject at
>>> >
>>> > Transparent Content Negotiation in HTTP home page
>>> > http://www.gewis.win.tue.nl/~koen/conneg/
>>> >
>>> >Which I found with the aid of the search:
>>> >
>>> >
>>>
>>http://www.infind.com/infind/infind.exe?query=%22content+negotiation%22tim
e=7
>>> >
>>> 
>>> ----
>>> Starling Access Services
>>>  "Access A World Of Possibility"
>>>   e-mail: info@starlingweb.com
>>>    URL: http://www.starlingweb.com
>>>     Phone: 613-820-2272  FAX: 613-820-6983
>>> 
>> 
> 
===================================
Nir Dagan
Assistant Professor of Economics
Brown University 
Providence, RI
USA

http://www.nirdagan.com
mailto:nir@nirdagan.com
tel:+1-401-863-2145

Received on Sunday, 19 September 1999 11:20:25 UTC