Re: Version identifier in URL
David J. Fiander (davidf@worf.mks.com)
Mon, 10 Jun 1996 10:29:31 -0400
> 6) http://host/path/resource/x
> also proposed by Kenji Takahashi, never really discussed but used by
> Christopher Seiwal for several examples.
My last message on this may have seemed a little rabid about my
dislike for this option. I wanted to assure you that I'm not
rabid; the suggestion has merit. I do, however, see some
problems.
There are two scenarios possible in a "hierarchical version
space":
http://host/prefix/VERSION/suffix
and
http://host/prefix/suffix/VERSION
The former has the advantage that, in the general case, we can
specify a version for a subtree, which lets us "surf into the
past" for free. The latter has the advantage that, in a sense,
different versions of a particular node in the heirarchy are
subordinate to it.
Unfortunately, neither option addresses the practical concern
that the server has to have some way of determining
<strong>when</> a URL contains a version. I mean, the path
http://host/foo/1.5/bar.html
could easily reference a page discussing the history of the "bar"
facility in Lisp 1.5.
This implies that there must be a node in the hierarchy that
informs the server that we're going elsewhen. For example:
http://host/foo/bar.html
is the "current" or "default" page and
http://host/waybackmachine/foo/bar.html/1.5
is rev. 1.5 of the same node.
- David