On 10 August 2012 06:02, Andy Seaborne <[email protected]> wrote: > On 09/08/12 11:57, Richard Cyganiak wrote: >> >> Peter, >> >> On 9 Aug 2012, at 00:19, Peter Ansell wrote: >>> >>> the current Any23 parser completely implements the >>> N-Triples/N-Quads spec itself including non-standard features such >>> as unencoded UTF-8 support for both IRIs and literals, relative >>> URIs, and blank node identifiers that start with numbers (where the >>> spec says that blank node identifiers must start with a letter). >> >> >> FWIW, the RDF Working Group (of which I am a member) is currently >> overhauling the N-Triples specification, and is likely to define >> N-Quads as a W3C Recommendation in this same specification as well. >> >> It is quite likely (but not certain) that this specification will >> include UTF-8 support, and will allow blank node IDs starting with >> digits. >> >> Support for relative IRIs has been discussed as well, but seems >> unlikely. >> >> Best, Richard > > > > Richard's assessment is correct - there is a strand that argues for not > doing N-Quads because TriG is enough but it's a minority. The majority just > keep putting N-Quads on the agenda if it slips off. As a dump format, it is > essential for many people. > > I'm on the working group as a representative of the Apache Software > Foundation. For this, and generally, if you have comments or suggestions > just get in touch - while there isn't a official ASF position, I do feel > duty bound to represent everyone. If you think the working group is making > a big mistake, say so. Implementers and users experience counts for quite a > lot. > > This does not stop you sending comments yourself via the working group > comments list where the working group would respond. It gets more formal > later in the process when the working group must respond. > > Andy
The proposed changes to allow full UTF-8 IRI and UTF-8 Literal support and arbitrary alphanumeric blank node ids are great. I don't see the value in relative IRIs though, as there is no possibility of having @base/xmlns: etc, so it will always have to be completed by the user, which could lead to difficulties. That matches Richard's take on the current situation so I doubt that I need to make a formal comment about it. It would be great if N-Quads can be pushed through standardisation as a very simple extension to an N-Triples that also has support for said UTF-8 and bnode id extensions, to keep the two formats in sync. Cheers, Peter
