RFC 1736 (rfc1736) - Page 2 of 10
Functional Recommendations for Internet Resource Locators
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 1736 Recommendations for IRLs February 1995 behalf in a relatively transparent way. Without such a method, transparent and widely distributed, open information access on the Internet would be difficult if not impossible. 2.1 Defining the General Resource Locator The requirements listed in this document impose restrictions on the general resource locator. To better understand what the Internet resource locator is, the following general locator definition provides some contrast. Definition: A general resource locator is an object that describes the location of a resource. This definition deliberately allows many degrees of freedom in order to contain the furthest reaches of the wide-ranging debate on resource location standards. Vast as it is, this problem space is a useful backdrop for discussion of the requirements (later) that generate a smaller, more manageable problem space. A resource location standard shrinks the space again by applying additional requirements. Consider the definition in four parts: (1) A general resource locator is an object (2) that describes (3) the location of (4) a resource. 2.1.1. A general resource locator is an object... The object could be a complex data structure. It could be a contiguous sequence of bytes. It could be a pair of latitude- longitude coordinates, or a three-color road map printed on paper. It could be a sequence of characters that are capable of being printed on paper. 2.1.2. ...that describes In the fully general case, there are many ways that a resource locator could describe the location. It could employ a graphical or natural language description. It could be heavily encoded or compressed. It could be lightly encoded and readily understandable by human beings. The description could be a multi-level hierarchy with common semantics at each level. It could be a multi-level hierarchy with common semantics at only the first two levels, where semantics below the second level depend on the value given at the first level. These are just a few possibilities. Kunze
