# URL spec changes

Tim Berners-Lee (timbl@www3.cern.ch)
Fri, 26 Nov 93 18:16:14 +0100

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    Date: Fri, 26 Nov 93 18:16:14 +0100

    From: Tim Berners-Lee <timbl@www3.cern.ch>

    Message-Id: <9311261716.AA00550@www3.cern.ch>

    To: uri@bunyip.com

    Subject: URL spec changes

Here are the request changes from the minutes,
with status of changes in the online hypertext version.
Comments please before I run off a new Internet Draft.

- Spaces. In the current draft they are legal but not recommended.
- Group decided that spaces (and other whitespace) failed to
meet
the human transcribable requirement and thus are not allowed.
All
spaces must be escaped to %20

Done. (Or should I put it in modulo the date divided by 7? ;-)

- Some modifications to partial URLs will be considered (changing
/xxx/.. to xxx/../

Done. ok?

- Section on partials is not appropriate for the main text of
the
document and needs to be moved out to an appendix

Will be in appendix when priunted version is generated.

- The WAIS length field is not necessary for access and is dropped
from the WAIS URL
Done
- The Prospero URL attribute mechanism will be modified (Mitra)

Action on Mitra.

- Character sets erroneously omitted the '+' and '=' characters
and
will be put back
done
- Fragments. Removed from the document at a previous meeting , but
never got deleted from the document .

Removed to appendix.

- News URL is more like a URN. It uses the message ID, rather
than
information about such things as NNTP server.
- Group decided that the "news" URL should be removed from the
document, and replaced with a valid NNTP: URL. Installed base
will continue to use "news" URL until transition can be made

I have expressed great reservations about removing the news: scheme
as it is more powerful than the nntp: scheme and in heavy use.
I propose that we put both in to attempt to satify every one.
Comments please on the list.

- Gopher+ protocol is not included. The current URL and new
information at the end
- Mark McCahill (mpm@boombox.micro.umn.edu) speaking for the
Gopher
group agreed to take care of this with a new URL type.

Action on Mark.

- Gopher type needs to be added back in because it is required for

access and is thus not considered "type" information in this
context.
Suggestions will be presented on the list for this.

It is in.

- FTP requires some for of type information for access (such as
Binary
or ASCII mode) and as such this is access information. A review

of
MIME was suggested and will be presented to the list.

In discussion -- see recent mails on this list. I will put in
Jon's suggestion if no comments.

- Wrappers. Do we need them and if so what should they be.
One of the
functional specifications is that locators be readily identified.
Does the URL: prefix suffice?

- After discussion and for the sake of time this was postponed
to the list.

Clearly an open question. Someone suggested that the outcome was
that URL: preprefix should go in. I am against it, for reasons
which I have elaborated before.

That is the set of changes mantioned in the minutes.

Tim Berners-Lee
CERN

- Next message: Tim Berners-Lee: "Re: What we're trying to do here..."
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- Maybe reply: Mitra: "Re: URL spec changes"
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- Maybe reply: Alexander Dupuy: "Re: URL spec changes"
- Maybe reply: Tim Berners-Lee: "Re: URL spec changes"