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Re: An XML document is an information resource (series ofoctet

• From: "Liam R. E. Quin" <liam@fromoldbooks.org>
• To: Roger L Costello <costello@mitre.org>, "xml-dev@l..." <xml-dev@l...>
• Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2023 15:16:05 -0400

On Tue, 2023-06-20 at 12:36 +0000, Roger L Costello wrote:
> 
> An XML document is an information resource (series of octets)
> described by the application/xml media type.

In MIME and HTTP terminology, a URI (uniform resource identifier)
identifies a resource, and a URL gives a Location.

What is returned from dereferencing a URL using HTTP is a
representation of a resource.

This does beg the question, what is a resource. And what is
information. And then, what is an information resource?

But the series of octets is a representation in much the same way that
a physical copy of a book sitting in your hands is a “manifestation of
a work”—you are not holding Shakespeare’s sonnet, “Ode to a validator”
but a printed representation of that sonnet, possibly one of many. The
large print edition, the audiobook, the stone carving in the garden of
the Scottish sculptor, are each a different representation, and in book
terms another copy of the same edition and impression of the book you
hold is another manifestation.

For my own part i think that information isn’t intrinsic to a resource,
nor to a representation, but is something gleaned by inspection and
analysis. Communication happens when sender and recipient glean
recognizeably similar information.

<me> Bot, what is the name of the umpire?
<bot> Fact recorded: the name of the umpire is “what”.

(who’s on first base anyway?)

liam



-- 
Liam Quin, https://www.delightfulcomputing.com/
Available for XML/Document/Information Architecture/XSLT/
XSL/XQuery/Web/Text Processing/A11Y training, work & consulting.
Barefoot Web-slave, antique illustrations:  http://www.fromoldbooks.org

• References:
  • An XML document is an information resource (series of octets) ...yes?
    • From: Roger L Costello <costello@mitre.org>