Re: The imprecision of Z39.50

> (1) Should the attribute archtecture try to fit it with the overall
>     protocol (including things like scan - sort also can use attributes)
> (2) Ignoring the model I put up, I cannot work out how the AA supports
>     querying on title as a complete value and title as words in a reliable
>     way. It seems like you have to look for about 10 magic combinations

Let's be a little clearer here... the second issue isn't with the
architecture, it's with the lack of explicitness definitions in the core
attribute sets?

The first, I don't see is an issue at all, as far as the different
operations are concerned.  Everywhere you can specify attribute
combinations (eg search, sort and scan) you can use the architecture in
the same way as the old bib-1 way of doing things.  It's just a matter of 
sending the right stuff on the wire.

The issue is the inability to decipher exactly what some combinations 
of those attributes mean, or how to precisely formulate a query using the 
attributes from UTIL and XD.  That sounds like a documentation problem, or 
just bugs in the core attribute sets.
In particular, from your example, expansion/interpretation and 
format/structure. (I'm sure there's no confusion over how to specify title 
itself using XD)

'Title as a complete value' ... you mean treating it as a single complete 
string, doing an exact match?  This looks to me to be UTIL 5=15 
(expasion/interpreation = No Expansion)

'Title as words' ... And here you mean treating the title as an ordered 
list of words.  This seems to me to be UTIL 9=1 (format/structure = 
adjacentWords) 

What am I missing?

Rob

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      ,'/:.          Rob Sanderson (azaroth@liverpool.ac.uk)
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Received on Sunday, 6 July 2003 12:14:35 UTC