Re: URI versus URI Reference

"Paul W. Abrahams" wrote:

> OK.  Can you come up with a replacement for the i.e. that describes, in a short simple
> phrase, what ``absolute'' means?   Or (this is the possibility I dread) is it the case
> that we don't really know what it means?

It's almost true that a URI reference is absolute if and only if it begins with a
scheme name followed by a colon.

A URI, as distinct from a URI reference, *always* begins with a scheme name
followed by a colon.  One must examine the RFCs to find out what scheme
names exist.

(There is a hack in RFC 2396 that allows deprecated relative
URI references like "http:foo", meaning the same as "foo", provided that
the base URI uses the "http:" scheme also.  If not, "http:foo" is undefined.)

-- 

Schlingt dreifach einen Kreis um dies! || John Cowan <jcowan@reutershealth.com>
Schliesst euer Aug vor heiliger Schau,  || http://www.reutershealth.com
Denn er genoss vom Honig-Tau,           || http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
Und trank die Milch vom Paradies.            -- Coleridge (tr. Politzer)

Received on Friday, 26 May 2000 14:04:17 UTC