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Subject: RE: [xri] CID changes in wd11
Les is taking the correct position in this
debate. XRI Resolution has long supported an
important identity model where an XRI authority’s identity can be distinguished
by its CanonicalID. For example, if resolving an XRI produces a (verifiable)
CanonicalID, then, as an XRI resolution client, I can treat that XRI as a
synonym to a unique XRI authority—a
unique record in the global database that Les describes below. I like to think
of this database as a hierarchical graph,
but these are really two legitimate ways of talking about the same identity
model. Each record in Les’ database is just a node in my graph. In both
cases, these records/nodes can be thought of as “XRI authorities”,
and in both cases the absolute identity of this XRI authority—that
characteristic which distinguishes it from all other XRI authorities—is
its CanonicalID. Given this basic identity model, any
resolution that produces a different verifiable CanonicalID simply addresses a different authority. This is by definition of the model. (It is the
same way that in a relational model, a different PK must address a different
record.) Say I resolve a given XRI with a given set of input parameters and it
produces a verifiable CID. Now say I resolve it a minute later with the same
set of input parameters and it produces another verifiable CID. This scenario
can and does occur—especially in the face of Ref processing and people provisioning
their SEPs. For example, I can (right now) simply add an SEP to @ootao*steve’s
authority, and then the same resolution call a minute later will return a
different verifiable CID. So, indeed, a client can get back a different XRI
authority when making two consecutive (equivalent) resolution calls. But this
is all fine and good because it is the way
that we designed Ref processing (a long, long time ago.) Given this behavior,
the (CanonicalID) identity model is still sound, because, by definition, the second resolution call simply
returns a different XRI authority. As for the CanonicalID being optional,
<CanonicalID> is simply an element in the XML metadata that one XRI
authority uses to describe another. The first authority can choose to use it or
not. If it does not use it, then a Resolution client obviously cannot use the
element to distinguish authorities. No harm no foul. As for immutability: if resolving
two XRIs produce to different verifiable CanonicalIDs then, by definition of the model, they address
different authorities—two different records in Les’ global
database. I really respect and appreciate Les’
effort to protect these fundamentals. The introduction of GlobalID is a giant
step in the wrong direction. It is an attempt to define a more complicated
identity model in the interest of solving a newly introduced use case. If that
use case is indeed important (which I doubt) then it should be solved within the existing model—not by
trying to define a new one. ~ Steve PS: For the typical disclaimer, I need to point
out that XRI resolution supports many identity models, and resolution clients
may not care at all about using a CanonicalID in the fashion described above. From: Chasen, Les
[mailto:les.chasen@neustar.biz] Hi Drummond, Welcome back hope you had a nice vacation. Yes CID has always been optional and we
cannot do anymore than recommend that it be persistent. We have also
never actually spelled out that it cannot change. However, the
implication has always been there that it is immutable. That is until the
introduction of globalId and the specification, for the first time, stating
that CID is editable. I think this is a huge architectural mistake given
where we are in the life of XRI. We have a base of applications out
there, at our insistence, using CID as a persistent key. It is too late
to change that now. I therefore propose that we take CID back
to where it was in WD10 and add extra text to codify that it should be left
immutable. Personally I would make it a MUST requirement but I recognize
for the same reason that it is an optional field and persistence is a
recommendation we cannot really require that it MUST be immutable. So a
SHOULD be immutable is fine. From: Drummond Reed
[mailto:drummond.reed@cordance.net] Les, I have just returned from vacation and am
still catching up on email and the minutes of the meetings while I was gone.
But regarding your point about CIDs, here’s some initial thoughts: 1) First, CanonicalID, like all synonym
elements, has always been optional. There’s no requirement than an XRD
MUST assert an CanonicalID. It’s RECOMMENDED, but for obvious reasons
it’s not REQUIRED at the spec level because some users of XRDS
architecture don’t need CanonicalIDs at all. 2) Second, there is no requirement that a
CanonicalID value be persistent. Again, it’s RECOMMENDED, but not
REQUIRED, as some authorities don’t either want or need persistent
identifiers. So my first point is that as much as it
would be nice for all XRDs to: a) have a CanonicalID value, and b) make it a
persistent identifier that never changes, we have never (in WD10 or any earlier
draft) required for either to be true. An authority has always been able to
assert any CanonicalID value they want, and change it anytime they want. The
only change from WD10 to WD11 is that the cardinality of CanonicalID went from
zero-or-more to zero-or-one. Secondly, the main purpose of XRI synonym
architecture is to model the real world in which a resource may have any number
of identifiers assigned to it by any number of authorities. Each of these
identifiers may be either reassignable or persistent. WD11 is the first draft
in which we have, in section 11 and specifically in Table 23 (page 60 of the
PDF), fully captured the semantics necessary for an authority to assert the set
of identifiers it uses to identify a resource in such a manner that client
applications have all the metadata they need to understand how to consume those
identifiers to maintain a reference to the resource. Your specific concern is that client applications
be able to know which identifier they can use as a persistent global foreign
key for a resource. Table 23 explains that of the five synonym elements
available, only three fit the requirements of a global foreign key:
CanonicalID, GlobalID, and Ref. LocalID and Backref do not meet the
requirements because: * LocalID is relative and not absolute. * Backref is an assertion that another
authority is referencing the synonyms in the current XRD to identify the
resource. However the other three – CanonicalID,
GlobalID, and Ref -- *all* can
meet the requirements of global foreign keys for a resource. This begs the
question: why have three XRD synonym elements that can all serve as global
foreign keys? Table 23 provides the answer. GlobalID and
Ref cleanly separate global keys for a resource into two categories for trust
purposes: 1) Category #1 – GlobalIDs –
are hierachical identifiers that are assigned by the authority for the XRD and
thus can be verified hierachically. 2) Category #2 – Refs – are polyarchical
identifiers that are assigned by authorities OTHER than the authority for the
XRD and which thus must be verified polyarchically, i.e., by confirming the
corresponding Backref. Given that between these two categories,
we’ve covered 100% of the use cases (to the best of my knowledge), what
then is the purpose of the CanonicalID element? Why do we even need it? The answer is that, because an authority
can assert any number of GlobalIDs or Refs for a resource (the use cases for
asserting multiple GlobalIDs are pretty weak but the use cases for asserting
multiple Refs can be very strong), the additional value of the CanonicalID
element is that it gives XRD authorities a way to assert which ONE of these
multiple global foreign keys the authority RECOMMENDS client applications use
to maintain a reference to the resource. So the net net is that the value(s) of the
GlobalID (zero-or-more), Ref (zero-or-more), and the CanonicalID (zero-or-one)
elements are all absolute identifiers that can serve as global foreign keys for
a resource. All the element tag tells you about these identifiers is: * Was it assigned by the authority for the
XRD (GlobalID)? * Was it NOT assigned by the authority for
the XRD (Ref)? * Of all the options, is it the
recommended global foreign key for the resource (CanonicalID)? This reveals the precise reason that the
value of a CanonicalID element in an XRD could change over time: the parent
authority learns that the recommended global foreign key for a resource is
different than the one the parent authority has heretofore been recommending.
For example, a parent authority could initially publish: <XRDS>
<XRD>
<Query>*example</Query>
<GlobalID>=!1</GlobalID>
<Ref>http://example.com/example/resource#1234</Ref>
<Ref>https://example.com/example/resource#1234</Ref>
<CanonicalID>https://example.com/example/resource#1234</CanonicalID>
</XRD> </XRDS> But the resource identified by these three
synonyms may lose control over the domain name “example.com”. In
this case, even though https://example.com/example/resource#1234 is a
persistent identifier (see below), the authority may decide that at that point
it is better to recommend a different persistent identifier as the CanonicalID.
Thus the XRD could change to: <XRDS>
<XRD>
<Query>*example</Query>
<GlobalID>=!1</GlobalID>
<Ref>http://example.com/example/resource#1234</Ref>
<Ref>https://example.com/example/resource#1234</Ref>
<CanonicalID>=!1</CanonicalID>
</XRD> </XRDS> Note that the identifier
“https://example.com/example/resource#1234” did NOT go away as a
persistent global foreign key for the resource. It’s still there as a
Ref, just as it was in the first example. The only change is that the
CanonicalID now points to a different global foreign key as the preferred one. Again note that NONE of the XRI synonym
elements has the semantics that the identifier value MUST be persistent (not in
WD11, WD10, or any earlier draft). The way for a consuming application to tell
whether the identifier is asserted as persistent is to check for either XRI
persistence semantics (! syntax for i-numbers) or URI persistence semantics
(urn: or other persistent URI schemes). *********** I hope this helps. Clearly this issue is
deep enough that it can benefit more from direct phone or f2f discussion than
from email. I nominate it for the agenda for this week’s TC call, but in
the meantime feel free to call me if you want to discuss further. =Drummond From: Chasen, Les
[mailto: Hi all – After reviewing the latest wd11 I have one major
concern. This version allows a CID to be changed after it is already set.
I believe that this is a big mistake. The CID is the
persistent identifier for the queried XRD. We need to ensure that once an
XRD has a CID that that CID identifies that XRD forever. I have always thought of the CID as a primary key to the
global database we have created with XRI resolution. Client applications
have been and are being written that depend on the value of this primary key
for the mapping of an identity described by an XRDS to their internal account
structure. If we allow this primary key to be changed we have caused a
major data integrity problem. I propose that the definition of CID not only revert back to
the WD10 definition but we also more strongly codify that a CID once set should
never be changed. Thanks Les contact: =les voice: =les/(+phone) chat: =les/skype/chat pibb me =les/+pibb |
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