FW: SRU 2.0 Draft Feedback

["Hammond, Tony" <t.hammond@nature.com>]

------ Forwarded Message
> From: <Hammond>, Tony <t.hammond@nature.com>
> Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:54:30 +0100
> To: <search-ws-comment@lists.oasis-open.org>
> Conversation: SRU 2.0 Draft Feedback
> Subject: SRU 2.0 Draft Feedback
> 
> Hi:
>  
> Here's some initial feedback on the SRU 2.0 Draft.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Tony
> 
>  
> #####
> 
> 1. Parameters / Elements
>  
> I think it would help to break out Request Parameters from Response Elements
> in Sects. 4, 6 and 7. The two sets are largely disjoint. (Same remark applies
> to the Abstract Protocol Definition.)
>  
> Also might help to break out discussion of Facets into separate section (as
> Diagnostics and Extensions), especially since Facets is an optional feature. I
> also think that Search Result Analysis is sufficiently specialized to warrant
> its own section.
>  
> Sect. 5 seems to be misplaced coming as it does in between Sect. 4 and Sects.
> 6 and 7.
> 
>  
> 2. Parameter / Element Ordering
>  
> Not clear what the basis is for the orderings given in Sect. 2 (Table 1) and 3
> (Table 6). Is it a logical ordering?
>  
> I note that "echoedSearchRetrieveRequest" is differently located (at bottom)
> from its location in the 1.* XSD schema. Is that intentional?
>  
> <xsd:complexType name="searchRetrieveResponseType">
>    ...
>         <xsd:sequence>
>           ...
>          <xsd:element ref="echoedSearchRetrieveRequest" minOccurs="0"/>
>          <xsd:element ref="diagnostics" minOccurs="0"/>
>          <xsd:element ref="extraResponseData" minOccurs="0"/>
>         </xsd:sequence>
>       ...
>  </xsd:complexType>
>  
> Also note that ordering is different in the tables and in Sect. 4.
>  
> 
> 3. Response Elements
>  
> Response elements are given for a specific serialization - XML.
>  
> Is that what is intended by binding? I would have thought binding would be to
> a specific data model (e.g. SRU) which can then be serialized various ways:
> native XML, ATOM, RSS, JSON, etc.
>  
> Thus don't see relevance of the angle brackets in Table 6. (And that does also
> have a bearing on the type constraints that are offered if the elements are
> not only XML.) 
>  
> Also, heading in Sect. 3.1 is to "Actual Reponse Elements ..." and should be
> "Reponse Elements ..." only. (Cf  Sect. 2.1 which is to "Request Parameters
> ..." alone.)
>  
> 
> 4. Response Elements: "resultSetIdentifier", "timeToLive", "idleTime"
>  
> Mentioned in Sect 2, 3 and 4.10 the element "resultSetIdentifier" should be
> "resultSetId" everywhere.
>  
> And in Sect 3, "timeToLive" and "idleTime" should be "resultSetTTL" and
> "resultSetIdleTime", respectively.
>  
> 
> 5. Response Elements: "diagnostics"
>  
> Probably don't need the "(non-surrogate)" in the name value field. Perhaps
> this could be footnoted in the table?
>  
> 
> 6. Request Parameters: "httpAccept-*"
>  
> I think these params are incorrectly named and should follow the standard
> camelcase style used elsewhere. e.g.
>  
> Accept-Charset:             httpAccept-charset -> httpAcceptCharset
> Accept-Encoding:             httpAccept-encoding -> httpAcceptEncoding
> Accept-Language:             httpAccept-language -> httpAcceptLanguage
> Accept-Ranges:             httpAccept-ranges -> httpAcceptRanges
>  
> Even though they mimic the HTTP headers they break naming convention.
> 
> 
> 7. Request Parameters: "rendering"
>  
> This is just a query. I wonder if the terms "client" / "server" would be more
> appropriate than "local" / "remote". It might be more correct to talk about
> "local" / "remote" but I always end up having to do a double take to figure
> out my relative position.
>  
> 
> 8. Request Parameters: recordSchema, sortKeys/sortSchema
>  
> Both "recordSchema" and "SortKeys/sortSchema" allow for short names to be used
> in place of URIs. But the SRU registered short names [1] are not unique. E.g.
> "mods" is mapped to four different XML schema (3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3) and
> likewise "pam" is ampped to two different XML schema (2.0, 2.1).
>  
> Also in Sect. 4.7.1 it says under sortSchema "the URI for an XML schema". What
> is meant though is the "short name" for an XML schema, which is a placeholder
> for the URI. And that is shown in the examples but needs better explanation.
>  
> Still, the short name to URI mapping problem remains.
>  
> [1] http://www.loc.gov/standards/sru/resources/schemas.html
>  
> 
> 9. Response ID
>  
> There is no ID returned in the response. If there are records then a
> "resultSetId" is returned but not otherwise. Some serializations (e.g. ATOM)
> require an ID (actually a URI) for the response. One strategy would be to use
> the "resulSetId" as the basis for a unique ID, but this fails when no records
> are returned and a response is still required to carry the diagnostics.
>  
> Is there some other place to return a unique response ID?
>  
> 
> 10. Endpoints
> 
> I would have preferred to see the "operation" parameter maintained so that
> "searchRetrieve" and "scan" could both be located on the same endpoint, and an
> explicit choice be made between them. Heuristics could be applied but I think
> this is an unnecessary shorthand and may only lead to problems down the line.
> I would have made this parameter optional at the least.
> 
> As regards version agree that it could be dispensed with although don;t see
> any real harm in allowing for an optional parameter. Definitely not a required
> parameter.
> 
> 
> 11. Typos, etc
> 
> a) Sects 2 and 3 (Tables 1 and 6)
> 
> Suggest that all categories which are not strict parameter names (e.g. "Facet
> parameters", "Extension parameters", "Extension", etc.) be set in italics to
> differentiate from actual parameter names.
> 
> And some tidying up of punctuation etc., e.g. No periods on "Reference" /
> "Restrictions" columns (which by the way should both be the same head e.g.
> "Reference"?). And perhaps "see" instead of "See", and "optionsl" nstead of
> "Optional".
>  
> b) 4.7.1 "Sort Sub Parameters" and "sub parameters" in text
>  
> Preferably "sub-parameter" or "subparameter".
>  
> c) 4.7.2 "Textual Representation of sortKeys Parameter"
>  
> Maybe should just be something like "Represention of sortKeys Parameter
> Value". Don't need the "Textual", and this is the parameter *value*, not the
> parameter we're talking about.
>  
> d) 4.9.1 
>  
> Should everywhere be "HTTP Accept header" (lowercase "header"), and
> "Content-Location" (capitalized).
>  
> #####
>  
>  
>   
>  

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