unAPI news

unAPI Version 1 is finished.

The only changes from revision 3, the previous revision, were those needed for the history section and minor wording tweaks.

Many thanks to everybody who generously contributed their time and attention to help make unAPI the best darned specification for copying objects out of webapps by format using their identifiers via a simple set of HTTP functions developed in public on an open mailing list in a very brief period of time using a wacky set of rules. The *best* one of those!

unAPI revision 3 is available.

This revision incorporates many significant changes from revision 2 and has become much simpler and shorter to boot!  Specific changes include:

• Any kind of identifier may now be used (previously required URIs)
• SPAN changed to ABBR
• unAPI class changed to “unapi-id”
• unAPI LINK rel changed to “unapi-server”
• Response format simplified, optional namespace_uri and schema_location removed
• Several informative notes added including a complete example, a response format schema, and suggestions for choosing identifiers and handling empty ABBR elements
• Contributor list updated
• Edited throughout for concision, clarity

Hopefully you will agree that this is the best unAPI yet.  Please consider adding unAPI to your web apps!

Due to holidays and other reasons, the publishing dates of the next revision of unAPI and the final version have been pushed back two weeks each.

Revision 3, the “ballot spec”, will be released on Thursday, May 4, 2006.

Version 1, the final version, will be published on Thursday, June 1, 2006.

unAPI revision 2 is available.

The major change from revision 1 is that all HTTP status codes have been removed from the specification itself, which now more explicitly defers to RFC 2616.  The “Notes on HTTP status codes” section has been renamed “Recommended HTTP status codes and error handling (non-normative)”.  Note the thoughtful input on this topic from several contributors in this thread.

Other changes include:

• Added a list of contributors
• info: URI examples were changed to http: and urn: examples, which should be more familiar to a wider audience

There remains a lengthy to-do list of open issues.

Separately, unAPI has been mentioned in some interesting places recently.