[osis-core] osisCore_Candiate_1.1_003 - 11 osisRef URLs

[Steve DeRose]

At 01:25 PM -0400 08/21/02, Harry Plantinga wrote:
>We currently have no way to make a simple hypertext
>link using the osisRef system.  We can make a <reference>,
>but that's not a hypertext link.  I propose we define
>a URL syntax for osisRefs.
>
>   a) <a href="osis:Bible.KJV:Matt.1.1">
>
>or, If you prefer more (and more distinctive) syntax,
>
>   b)  <a href="osis://Bible.KJV:Matt.1.1">
>
>I suppose an alternative would be to add an osisRef attribute
>to the a element, so you could write
>
>   c) <a osisRef="Bible.KJV:Matt.1.1">

We added <a> a while back. I've always thought of <reference> as also 
having the linking semantics; but I emphatically agree we should have 
an encapsulation syntax for putting osisRefs into URIs.

The XPointer schema syntax for fragment identifiers is now in last 
call, and will likely issue shortly; we can be the first to leverage 
it....

http://usual.stuff.com/path/path/file.htm#osis(Matt.1.1) would do 
fine, on assumption the pre-"#" URI points to a version where the 
osisRef is applicable.

Even more useful would be

osis:... as shown above, but that requires browser mods or plugins, 
so shouldn't be the only way (anybody up to hacking it into Mozilla, 
though?)


>In the first two examples, osis: is the protocal name, like
>http or ftp.  Processing software would presumably convert
>such links to regular http:// URLs in the conversion from
>OSIS to HTML.
>
>What needs to be done?
>
>   - pick a syntax
>   - document it
>   - for option a or b, figure out if it is possible to
>     'register' the osis: protocol name

This is an IETF-level thing; I have the list of active RFCs in hand 
(well, under elbow since I'm typing), mail follows w/ pointers to the 
relevant ones...

>   - patch netscape to handle such URLs (maybe somewhat later)

Do you have anybody that knows their way around inside Mozilla 
source? I *really* want somebody to enhance it with XPointer support 
(can get XPointer implementation source from a faculty friend in 
Italy, just would need to integrate and do the open-source checkin 
stuff). I might be able to scare up funding for such -- certainly I'd 
be happy to go both ABS about all the above, since they'd all help 
us. I might even get up the nerve to try to bug Steve Case even 
though I don't know him yet.

>
>-Harry


-- 

Steve DeRose -- http://www.stg.brown.edu/~sjd
Chair, Bible Technologies Group -- http://www.bibletechnologies.net
Email: sderose@speakeasy.net
Backup email: sjd@stg.brown.edu