At 2:56 PM -0500 2/4/05, Bob Wyman wrote:
Although I can't find it specified in the current draft, there used to be a rule that you weren't supposed to use the same atom:id more than once in a single feed.
The current draft says:
5.8 "atom:id" Element
The "atom:id" element is an Identity construct that conveys a permanent, universally unique identifier for an entry. atom:entry elements MUST contain exactly one atom:id element.
That means that you're not allowed to sue the same atom:id in any two entries, ever.
If the prohibition against having more than one entry in a single feed document with the same atom:id is still in effect,
Yes....
(i.e. if you can't have multiple versions of an entry in a single feed document) then you can't use an Atom feed document to archive "all states or versions" of entries as they have been published over time. You would only be able to archive, at best, a single version of each entry (typically the last one published, I think).
The requirement in the charter is:
* a complete archive of all entries in a feed
Your proposal expands that significantly. If you feel a need for that (quite different) kind of archive, you can propose an extension.
One alternative might to be provide an explicit relaxation of the rules by saying that for at least archives, what must be unique is a combined "key" constructed by concatenating atom:id + atom:modified.
We don't need to define "archive" in the core format spec, certainly not in a way that will be confusing to people who only care about entries and normal feeds. That's what extensions are for.
--Paul Hoffman, Director --Internet Mail Consortium
