Date: Fri, 29 Jul 1994 09:31:06 -0500
Message-Id: <199407291431.JAA26847@boombox.micro.umn.edu>
From: "Mark P. McCahill" <mpm@boombox.micro.umn.edu>
To: masinter@parc.xerox.com, uri@bunyip.com
Subject: Re: Version 5.3 of URL draft: NOTE URL: PREFIX MOVE
In message <94Jul28.203518pdt.2760@golden.parc.xerox.com> Larry Masinter writes:
>
> * Gopher changes: the gopher+ text is still a little awkward, but I
> worked on it. However, after re-reading Mark McCahill's message
> <URL:mid:199407272214.RAA23276@boombox.micro.umn.edu> I'm realize
> that I'm still confused. What's the URL for asking about the
> gopher+ attributes of a search element, vs., doing a gopher+ search
> with a null search string?
>
Think of it this way: telling a search engine to look for items matching
the null string has to either result in a) nothing matching or b) everything
matching. Either the null string is present in _all_ documents (icky!) or
it is not present in any documents.
To make life simple, we say that a search for the null string should have no
matches. So, if the search string you specify is the null string, you are
referring to the Gopher+ attributes of the search engine itself. If there are
words in the search string then you are referring to the Gopher+ attributes of
the results (the matches for your search string) returned as a result of
the search.
Examples:
1.) A URL for an (imaginary) gopher+ attribute called +3D_icon for a search
engine would be:
<URL:gopher://turnip.com/7a_search_engine%09%09+3D_icon>
2.) A URL referring to an (imaginary) gopher+ attribute called
+3Dcoordinates for the results returned by a search for the
word "salmon egg" would be:
<URL:gopher://turnip.com/7a_search_engine%09salmon egg%09+3Dcoordinates>
Mark P. McCahill gopherspace engineer
mpm@boombox.micro.umn.edu University of Minnesota
612 625 1300 612 625 6817 (fax)