[OSGeo-Standards] Was: "file" formats. Is: GeoWeb

[Arnulf Christl]

Both,
maybe we are not really having an issue here, both is correct. One
aspect of REST besides relations (see other thread) and hypertext is to
make a clear distinction between the resource and it's representations.
Which is why the underlying architecture paradigm is called resource
orientation.

If we take some raster data to be the resource then any part and
information derived from this data is a representation of this resource.
It is perfectly fine for a representation (for example a file) to not
have any hypertext component or link embedded in them (think PNG image).
It can still be part of a REST environment. The raster representation
that is returned for a GET request could well be wrapped into some
hypertext, this would make things even nicer but is not required at all
times.

Cheers,
Arnulf


On 11.07.2013 18:14, Rushforth, Peter wrote:
> Hi Peter,
> 
> Thanks for entertaining this discussion.
> 
>> hm, then we are out of the world of imagery - links embedded 
>> in NetCDF files is not the use case we have.
> 
> Can NetCDF conceivably contain (recognizable) hyperlinks?  If not, 
> could the http response include the link header [1] ?  From what
> I understand, the headers can be considered part of the hypertext,
> although at that point you are working at the protocol level,
> which is a bit more opaque to users, hence probably won't scale
> as easily because it requires more elaborate tooling.
> 
> Alternatively, a response formated as Atom [2], [3] could provide a hypertext
> base for responses.
> 
> 
>> Actually, this view of the Web at large points to 
>> graph-oriented structures - one of the core data structures 
>> relevant in our times. 
> 
> Yes!  This is how/why the Web works!  Note that in the WebArch document
> I mentioned earlier, they credit this as being perhaps dominant reason
> for the web's success.  I would also say simplicity is a factor,
> per the rule of least power. [4]
> 
>> However, another fundamental structure 
>> is that of a multi-dimensional array. This structure is not 
>> supported very much these days.
> 
> Well I won't be able to contribute meaningfully on that level ;-)
> 
> But, I have confidence that hypertext can stretch to accomodate that
> concept too, if necessary.
> 
> Regards,
> Peter
> 
> [1] http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5988
> [2] http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5023
> [3] http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4287
> [4] http://www.w3.org/2001/tag/doc/leastPower.html
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Baumann, Peter [mailto:p.baumann at jacobs-university.de] 
>> Sent: July 11, 2013 11:55
>> To: Rushforth, Peter
>> Cc: Raj Singh; standards at lists.osgeo.org
>> Subject: RE: [OSGeo-Standards] Was: "file" formats. Is: GeoWeb
>>
>> hm, then we are out of the world of imagery - links embedded 
>> in NetCDF files is not the use case we have.
> 
>> Actually, this view of the Web at large points to 
>> graph-oriented structures - one of the core data structures 
>> relevant in our times. 
> 
> However, another fundamental structure 
>> is that of a multi-dimensional array. This structure is not 
>> supported very much these days.
>>
>> -Peter
>>
>>
>> --
>> Dr. Peter Baumann- Professor of Computer Science, Jacobs 
>> University Bremen
>>   http://www.faculty.jacobs-university.de/pbaumann
>>   mail: p.baumann at jacobs-university.detel: +49-421-200-3178, 
>> fax: +49-421-200-493178
>> - Executive Director, rasdaman GmbH Bremen (HRB 
>> 26793)http://www.rasdaman.com,
>>   mail: baumann at rasdaman.com
>>   tel: 0800-rasdaman, fax: 0800-rasdafax, mobile: 
>> +49-173-5837882 "Si forte in alienas manus oberraverit hec 
>> peregrina epistola incertis ventis dimissa, sed Deo 
>> commendata, precamur ut ei reddatur cui soli destinata, nec 
>> preripiat quisquam non sibi parata." (mail disclaimer, AD 1083)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________________
>> From: Rushforth, Peter [Peter.Rushforth at NRCan-RNCan.gc.ca]
>> Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2013 5:26 PM
>> To: Baumann, Peter
>> Cc: Raj Singh; standards at lists.osgeo.org
>> Subject: RE: [OSGeo-Standards] Was: "file" formats.  Is: GeoWeb
>>
>>>
>>> now I'm puzzled - so you say REST = http,
>>
>> No, I don't.
>>
>>> and any http
>>> request is RESTful?
>>
>> No:  Hypertext is the key ingredient in REST.  It doesn't 
>> matter what the protocol is, in fact, if the links are 
>> embedded in hypertext.  And, what matters is that the links 
>> represent *relationships* between resources.  Not the format 
>> of the link itself.
>>
>> Does that help?
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Peter
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Standards mailing list
> Standards at lists.osgeo.org
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/standards
> 


-- 
Arnulf Christl (Executive Director)
Open Source Geospatial Software, Data and Services
http://www.metaspatial.net