[Json] Re: Proposal for use of JSON Text vs JSON Document in JSON Schema

[Henry Andrews <[e-mail]>]

 Thanks, David.
  I am on board with "schema value" if that finds support with others.  Apologies for the confusion.
  I am not sure where you're going with the "web information resource" vs "namespace" thing, I think I'll sit back and let others reply and see where that goes.  I don't think schema `$id`s work exactly as namespaces the way you propose, but I'm just not sure I get the context here as XML has never been a focus of mine.
thanks,-henry


    On Wednesday, May 20, 2026 at 04:39:26 AM PDT, David Kemp <[e-mail]> wrote:  
 
 

On Tue, May 19, 2026 at 7:03 PM Henry Andrews <[e-mail]> wrote:

 Inventing "schema instance" for schemas would be massively confusing to all of the users and implementors out there.  Yes, schemas are instances of their metaschemas, but that's like saying someone who is a parent is also a child of *their* parents.  It is a true statement, but when choosing whether to refer to them as parents or children, the context matters.  The JSON Schema community has used "schema instance" for _instances_ (validated input), not schemas, for well over a decade.
I am enthusiastic about clarifying ambiguous language, which might include dropping long-used terminology in favor of something new (or old, from a better-established lineage of specifications).  But appropriating a term that has a well-established meaning and *redefining it to mean something else* is just going to create confusion.

[dk]  We agree completely.  I said "you can call the value a "schema instance" or "schema value" or simply a "schema"",  You agree that it is literally an instance of the metaschema, but I am not proposing to call it that.

** I am proposing to call it a schema value (the internal representation resulting from ingesting a document) to distinguish it from a schema document (the JSON or YAML file). **


> A namespace is not a resource.
Something that is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier is, by definition, a resource.  There is absolutely not requirement that resources be physical things.  A resource can be an abstract concept with no physical manifestation at all.

[dk] You are correct.  I should have said "A namespace is not a *web information resource*.

The Web works as follows: A set of governing specifications ([3986], etc.) and namespaces (e.g. DNS) "authorize" servers and APIs to yield certain "representations"[4] (specific information entities) in response to requests to dereference a given URI.
   --- https://www.w3.org/2001/tag/awwsw/ir/20110517/#web 
A namespace is not a representation returned in response to a request, it groups a collection of things that can be returned.  Dereferencing www.amazon.com/dp/ does not return anything, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GCPMQJSF does.  A schema namespace is a collection of definitions; each definition is the "LocalPart" of a qualified name within that namespace.

Regards,
David