Jeff Turner wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 16, 2002 at 04:30:47PM +0100, Nicola Ken Barozzi wrote:
> ...
>
>>>The way it works is a hack. I like the file: approach much better,
>>
>>Why?
>>
>>I'm a user. I take a file. Put it in the directory. Link to it. See it
>>in the result.
>>
>>What do you not like of this? Why is it better if I write the link with
>>file: in it?
>
>
> You are perfectly right, this _should_ be how it works. It is simple and
> intuitive.
Ok then, let's make it work :-)
> But think about it: when you said "I take a file. Put it in the
> directory. Link to it.", you're admitting that you're linking to the
> _Source_ URI. Which is good, because you shouldn't be relying on the
> destination location.
Ok, you have my support here. links are always done relative to current
source location. I like this.
> But unfortunately, unprefixed links have a
> 'cocoon:' scheme, so <link href="index.pdf"> will not link to
> src/documentation/content/index.pdf. That is why we need this file:
> prefix.
This is an implementation problem, not a conceptual one.
It could be that we will be forced by ignorance and impotence to use it
because we cannot find a technical way of dealing with it.
But IMHO we are not there yet.
resource-exists is not a hack IMHO. If the user can put any file in the
directory and want it to be picked up by *name without extension*, we
cannot do without it, because we don't have enough metadata in the
filesystem to keep mime/types alongside files, and encode the info in
the file itself and in the name. Thus, this info has to be collected via
*probing*, which is what resource-exists and CAPs do.
I sould be able to ask the source to give me a file, without extension,
and have it tell me what Mime-type it is and other info. Based on that
process it. Not having it, we use resource exists. If you have a better
method of probing, I'm all for it.
If file systems had proper metadata, we wouldn't need all this, but
these "hacks" as you call them are necessary given the reality of things.
--
Nicola Ken Barozzi nicolaken@apache.org
- verba volant, scripta manent -
(discussions get forgotten, just code remains)
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