[Doc-SIG] URLs

Edward D. Loper edloper@gradient.cis.upenn.edu
Tue, 20 Mar 2001 15:40:04 EST


Since [] are not allowed in URLs, and we already have expressions of
the form "name":[ref], how does the following sound:

  Use "name":[ref] for in-line hrefs.  If ref is a single token, and
  there is a directive of the form:

     ..[ref] url

  Then use url as the URL; otherwise, use ref as the URL.

Of course, we'd want to talk to the STNG people about this, but it
seems to solve a number of problems:
  1. detecting the end of the URL is trivial
  2. "name":url. is no longer ambiguous, because we would either say
     "name":[url]. or "name":[url.]
  3. It seems easier to read
  4. '":[' is much less likely to occur unintentionally in text than
     '":' is.  So we don't have to worry about people saying things
     like "foo":bar by accident, instead of intending an href.

If we can agree upon it among ourselves, then I think we should start
trying to convince the STNG people..

-Edward