RE: [metaDataInURI-31]: Initial draft finding for public review/comment.

 

-----Original Message-----
From: ext MDaconta@aol.com [mailto:MDaconta@aol.com]
Sent: 08 July, 2003 21:11
To: skw@hp.com; www-tag@w3.org
Subject: Re: [metaDataInURI-31]: Initial draft finding for public review/comment.


In a message dated 7/8/2003 6:44:46 AM US Mountain Standard Time, skw@hp.com writes:



I would appreciate some feedback on this draft. Whether a simpler, shorter,
finding is a better path to take? Whether "Don't peek inside URIs" is all
that need be said?




Hi Stuart,

First, to answer your questions:
1. A simpler and shorter finding is only better for the "don't peek inside" position.
2. I disagree with the "Don't peek inside URIs" sentiment.  

The "Don't peek inside" position stresses the use of identification as an assertion of 
uniqueness and possibly a mechanism to locate that unique thing.  In essence, 
an opaque "pointer".  While those are necessary functions of a URI, 
imbuing an identifier with additional metadata should be 
encouraged.  First, additional metadata in a URI makes it 
easier to keep the URI "cool" (as in  <http://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/URI.html)> http://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/URI.html) by
adding classification metadata to the identifier (as with the W3C URLs in your 
finding). 
 

What if the metadata changes? Then you have a different URI, and things break.
 
URIs with metadata embedded in them which might change are hardly "cool".

 
Second, additional metadata in a URI enables a higher-level
of efficient processing on resources by applications that *just* want 
to process URIs.  Opaque URIs would eliminate that increasing possibility.
 

There are better (ie. generalized, scalable, flexible) ways to provide access
to resource descriptions than embedding such knowledge in the URIs that
denote them.
 
C.f. http://sw.nokia.com/URIQA.html
 
Cheers,
 
Patrick



--
Patrick Stickler
Nokia, Finland
patrick.stickler@nokia.com
  

 
Best wishes,

- Mike
---------------------------------------------------
Michael C. Daconta
Chief Scientist, APG, McDonald Bradley, Inc.
www.daconta.net