# URA as HTML

Leslie Daigle (leslie@beethoven.bunyip.com)
Wed, 22 Mar 95 13:05:03 -0500

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    Date: Wed, 22 Mar 95 13:05:03 -0500

    From: Leslie Daigle <leslie@beethoven.bunyip.com>

    Message-Id: <9503221805.AA19803@beethoven.bunyip.com>

    To: ura-bunyip@bunyip.com, uri@bunyip.com

    Subject: URA as HTML

[terry@ora.com, Wed Mar 22 10:54:39 1995, wrote:]

> A question in aid of clarification: we would seem to have URAs
> already in the form of HTML documents. Do you consider HTML docs
> as URAs? if not, why not?

Well, there are a couple of things to consider:

1. That's tackling an implementation issue, not an architecture
issue. So, I think it's a bit early to say yea or nay definitively.

2. Having said that, I would personally be unlikely to suggest HTML
documents as an implementation mechanism for these reasons:
. There is a heavy component of filtering/script activity
required by URAs that really has nothing to do with
document rendering (and thus wouldn't be well-supported
by HTML)

. Although the first application of URAs involves a fair
bit of (real) user input/involvement, the longterm plans
for activities supported by URAs include things that
will have no direct user involvement. So, it would seem
a bit limiting to tie their implementation into a browser
technology (e.g., by saying HTML forms can be used to
implement them).

. If one considers implementing a URA as an HTML form, then
you lose some of the "data object"-ness of the URA. An
example that didn't get clearly suggested in the document
I sent around is that the URL/URN (HOW) specifications are
meant to be _constructors_, with the idea that a URA
invoker might want to use several URL/URNs created from
one constructor. Writing an HTML form that allows this
starts pushing the limits of HTML-as-rendering language.
. If one considers implementing a URA as a non-form HTML
document, my question is _why_?

So, the short answer is: you could probably implement a particular view of
URAs as HTML documents, but I believe the URA concept is in fact a good
deal more general than would be readily supported by such an implementation.

Cheers!
Leslie.

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