[CF-metadata] unique identifiers

[Luis Bermudez]

Brian, et al.

I agree with Brian about the best approach for humans, which is  
pattern very much use in the Semantic Web.

2 points:

a) About unintelligible identifier: "Agents making use of URIs SHOULD  
NOT attempt to infer properties of the referenced resource." http:// 
www.w3.org/TR/webarch/#uri-opacity .
But a little help in the URI construct about its semantics is good  
for all.

b) Resolvability of URLs
“Although many URI schemes are named after protocols, this does not  
imply that use of such a URI will necessarily result in access to the  
resource via the named protocol” http://www.w3.org/TR/webarch/ 
#dereference-uri

“although many URI schemes (e.g. URLs) are named after protocols,  
this does not imply that use of these URIs will result in access to  
the resource via the named protocol. URIs are often used simply for  
the sake of identification” http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3986.txt

So we can use URLs only for identification. But common if we do it  
right (resolvable URL) - this will be easier for everyone.


-Luis


On Mar 22, 2007, at 10:40 AM, Jonathan Gregory wrote:

> Dear John
>
> The argument appears to be than an unintelligible identifier (i.e.  
> one without
> semantic content) is good because it is in itself meaningless, so  
> you have to
> look it up to find out what it means, whereas if you use  
> intelligible names,
> you might be misled by misunderstand them. Is that right? I  
> appreciate that
> this is rational, but I'm not convinced it is the most helpful  
> approach for
> humans. That would be an argument against self-describing netCDF  
> files, for
> example. It would argue that the metadata in the files should be  
> totally
> cryptic to humans, so that you had the use the latest version of an  
> approved
> translator to tell you what it means. That has some attraction, but  
> I'm not
> sure it really solves the problem. The translator will use its own  
> idioms,
> which the human user will get used to, and if a new version of the  
> translator
> gives new meanings to the words it uses, you are back in the same  
> problem.
> It seems to me better to admit that one always has be careful at  
> some level,
> and use names that have some apparent meaning.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Jonathan
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