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Re: [Handle-info] Re: Please help me understand the value of Handle

Tim,
Adding to what Larry Lannom has already mentioned:
Handle Sytem provides advanced capabilities to be used by service providers that provide a low entry barrier for the clients to use these capabilities efficiently.

Coming back to your particular case: I would recommend you to slightly customize the handle proxy software. Handle proxy software is the one that is deployed in various locations and people use them by calling hdl.handle.net.

You may very well deploy your own proxy server (let's say hdl.coalliance.org) with slight customization. The customization is necessary to allow the root domain of the your web server (http://shield.mydomain.org/ <parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fshield.mydomain.org%2Ftodo.txt> <parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fshield.mydomain.org%2Ftodo.txt>) be part of your handle namespace.
The handles can now have todo.txt as part of the URL handle record. (for example, in the handle 98765/todo).

Now, as a result of the customization at the proxy level - you could access http://hdl.coalliance.org/98765/todo and that would resolve to http://shield.mydomain.org/ <parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fshield.mydomain.org%2Ftodo.txt>todo.txt

If the root domain of your webserver changes - this would require you to just change a single configuration at the proxy level. This would relieve you from using a batch process to update all the handles (and even before, documenting what those handles are).

Based on your use case and requirement, you may pursue either of the options (proxy customization or batch update process) - we are glad to guide you in either of your efforts, if need may be. <parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fshield.mydomain.org%2Ftodo.txt>

Thanks,
Giridhar

Tim Donnelly wrote:

OK, that makes some sense. I assume then that if I have 1 million handles (which is not outside the relm of possiblity for the project) that I can use a batch process to update all of those if, for some reason, it becomes necessary?

While it's not excatly what we were thinking, I can see that there is some value added by the Handle System.

Thanks for all the replies. 

Tim Donnelly
Systems/Network Administrator
Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries
(303)759-3399 x106

*On Fri Mar 23 6:10 , handle-info-request@cnri.reston.va.us sent:
*


    Message: 2
    To: handle-info@cnri.reston.va.us
    <javascript:top.opencompose('handle-info@cnri.reston.va.us','','','')>
    Subject: Re: [Handle-info] Please help me understand the value of
    Handle
    From: Michael Judd <m.judd@griffith.edu.au
    <javascript:top.opencompose('m.judd@griffith.edu.au','','','')>>
    Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2007 10:04:48 +1000

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    Hi Tim,
    I'm no handle expert but here goes...
    Handles are just updatable mappings to URLs.
    They allow you to publish URLs to documents that, as long as you
    maintain
    the mapping, will always resolve.
    So in your example, originally you might have given the URL
    http://hdl.handle.net/98765/todo
    <parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fhdl.handle.net%2F98765%2Ftodo> to
    someone so that they could see the
    document at http://shield.mydomain.org/todo.txt
    <parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fshield.mydomain.org%2Ftodo.txt>.
    (Any handle server should be able to resolve any handle, but since
    handle
    servers themselves are suseptable to hostname changes etc. you
    should use
    the cnri handle server (hdl.handle.net) when giving out handle
    URLs as it
    is guaranteed not to change.)
    Back to your example, after your hostname change you would update
    98765/todo to point to http://dagger.mydomain.org/todo.txt
    <parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fdagger.mydomain.org%2Ftodo.txt> so
    that
    everyone who went to http://hdl.handle.net/98765/todo
    <parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fhdl.handle.net%2F98765%2Ftodo>
    would continue to
    see the correct document.
    Originally you may have had another document at http://
    whatever.mydomain.org/whatever.txt that you created the handle
    http://hdl.handle.net/98765/whatever
    <parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fhdl.handle.net%2F98765%2Fwhatever>
    for. This handle will still be valid
    as long as http://whatever.mydomain.org/whatever.txt
    <parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwhatever.mydomain.org%2Fwhatever.txt>
    points to the
    document.
    Handles with the same prefix (98765) don't have to resolve to the
    same
    server. The prefix is just used to locate the actual handle server.
    Using DNS cnames and aliases you can keep URLs that simply move
    servers or
    change hostnames resolving. But what happens if an organizations
    domain
    name changes? Or what happens if the repository software the
    documents
    exist in changes, and all the relative links change? This is where
    the
    value of handles and other persistant URL schemes come.
    That's how I see it anyway. :)
    Cheers!

Regards,

Michael Judd

    Nathan Campus, Griffith University.
    Brisbane 4111. Australia.

    m.judd@griffith.edu.au
    <javascript:top.opencompose('m.judd@griffith.edu.au','','','')>
    07 3735 3801





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