HTML WG comment on XML Base

XML base uses RFC 2396 to define how relative URLs are resolved.

In a document called bar.xml with xml:base="http://w3.org/doc/foo/"

    if href="aa"  then  resolved="http://w3.org/doc/foo/aa"
    if href="a"    then  resolved="http://w3.org/doc/foo/a"
but if href=""    then  resolved="http://w3.org/doc/foo/bar.xml"

However, this is not the behaviour of at least IE and Netscape, which
produce a resolved URL which is the same as the base.

This appears to be an RFC1808 vs. RFC2396 issue.  A quick look at 1808 shows
that the algorithm for resolving references required that the URL returned
be the same as the base in this case. So it seems to be a non-interoperable
change between the two RFCs.

While it might be handy to be able to refer to "the same URL as this
document", it seems that it is handier to be able to say "the same URL as
the base" (in a notation independent manner).

Steven Pemberton
Chair HTML WG

Received on Wednesday, 5 July 2000 09:25:07 UTC