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Subject: Re: [xri] Issue 1: Clarifying * Semantics
Colon is IMO *not* a subsegment separator in xri:@:1010 - rather, the initial GCS char is by definition a subsegment, and the colon is a decorator that indicates persistence. Note that in xri:@1010, again there are two subsegments, the GCS character and a reassignable subsegment. Fen Dave McAlpin wrote: > I was addressing Drummond's point about the difficulty of parsing. I > just pointed out that the difference in complexity of an XRI parser is > negligible between the current and the proposed syntax. Do you disagree > with that? > > As to the clarification of : as a separator, I think there's a > misunderstanding here. Colon is _always_ a subsegment separator. In > xri:@:1010, there are two subsegments, @ and 1010. In xri:@example there > are two subsegments, @ and example. Under both the current syntax and > the new proposal, there's an implied * between @ and example in > xri:@example. If that genuinely confuses users (which I don't think it > does, it's simply an ignorable technicality), then we'd have to make it > explicit as xri:@*example. That's what I was pointing out (somewhat > facetiously) in my second comment below. > > Dave > > >>-----Original Message----- >>From: Fen Labalme [mailto:fen@idcommons.org] >>Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 10:38 AM >>To: Dave McAlpin >>Cc: xri@lists.oasis-open.org >>Subject: Re: [xri] Issue 1: Clarifying * Semantics >> >>Dave McAlpin wrote: >> >>>As we've pointed out before, the thing that makes parsing and >>>interpreting XRIs difficult is cross-references. The difference > > between > >>>the two options we're currently discussing is negligible. >> >>While I agree that cross-references are the truly hard part, the > > proposed > >>simplification is *not* negligible. Rather, the change greatly > > clarifies > >>the >>meanings of : and *. The first (an initial colon) becomes a simple >>decorator >>(I like that term) that denotes persistence - it is no longer > > *sometimes* > >>a >>separator. The second (an initial star) now acts simply as a > > separator, > >>and >>no longer must be implied in places that it does not appear. >> >> >>>As for simplification of the rules, if implied * is confusing let's > > just > >>>require it. In other words, keep the current interpretation of * and >>>change xri:@example/foo to xri:@*example/*foo, comparable to > > xri:@:3/:4. > >>>This is a much simpler change and has the benefits you mention > > below. > >>This would be dreadful. Don't forget that the reason we're changing > > from > >>dot >>to star is for better human readability! >> >>Fen > > >
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