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


Tim, please find the responses interspersed. Thanks, Giridhar

If I host my own proxy, and customize it as you suggest, so that the domain (http://shield.mydomain.com <http://shield.mydomain.com/>) is part of the handle name space, I can then create my Handle so that the URL only contains the final destination (todo.txt). This way, if shield ever changes to dagger I only have to update the information in the proxy server.

I think I just rehashed exactly what you wrote, but I want to be clear on this.

Your understanding is correct.

If this is correct, it is almost exactly what we had envisioned the Handle system to be.

Handle proxy is a http-based service provider to the Handle System. I am glad you thought it fits your need. The only caveat I have is, your use case is not all to it (the Handle System).

Thanks again


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

*On Fri Mar 23 7:38 , Giridhar Manepalli sent:

*

    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%2F>

    ) 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
    <parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fhdl.coalliance.org%2F98765%2Ftodo>
    and that would resolve to
    http://shield.mydomain.org/
    <parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fshield.mydomain.org%2F>
    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.


    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 
    <javascript:top.opencompose('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','','','')>
handle-info@cnri.reston.va.us
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Subject: Re: [Handle-info] Please help me understand the value of
Handle
From: Michael Judd <

    <javascript:top.opencompose('handle-info@cnri.reston.va.us','','','')>m.judd@griffith.edu.au
    <javascript:top.opencompose('m.judd@griffith.edu.au','','','')>
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
<javascript:top.opencompose('m.judd@griffith.edu.au','','','')>http://hdl.handle.net/98765/todo
<http://webmail.coalliance.org/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
<http://webmail.coalliance.org/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
<http://webmail.coalliance.org/parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fdagger.mydomain.org%2Ftodo.txt> 
so
that
everyone who went to http://hdl.handle.net/98765/todo
<http://webmail.coalliance.org/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
<http://webmail.coalliance.org/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
<http://webmail.coalliance.org/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','','','')>
m.judd@griffith.edu.au
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07 3735 3801





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