Re: [ogpx] type-system : binary elements in JSON serializations

I think supporting conversion to and from string and binary at the LLSD level is a good idea, and I don't see any downsides to this approach.

John

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ogpx-bounces@ietf.org [mailto:ogpx-bounces@ietf.org] On Behalf Of
> Meadhbh Hamrick
> Sent: Sunday, March 28, 2010 10:34 AM
> To: ogpx
> Subject: [ogpx] type-system : binary elements in JSON serializations
> 
> i'm not sure if this was the recommendation made at the f2f meeting
> last tuesday, so let me try to define it.
> 
> the issue is that JSON does not provide a mechanism to differentiate
> between a string that contains textual data and a string that contains
> the base64 encoding of binary data. the current technique for avoiding
> this ambiguity was to encode binary data as an array of unsigned 8 bit
> numbers. many people do not like this technique.
> 
> the suggestion at the f2f was, if i remember it correctly, to simply
> BASE64 encode the binary data and carry the encoding in a string.
> 
> this got me thinking...  section 2.1.9 does not include a generic
> conversion from a string to a binary. maybe we should put this
> conversion in the LLSD section instead of the JSON encoding section.
> if someone is expecting an element to be a binary, it is likely to
> attempt to access it as a binary anyway. by moving this conversion
> into the LLSD section, it allows us to punt on tryign to id binaries
> in the encoding and allows users of other serialization schemes to be
> lazy about the conversion.
> 
> so i'm suggesting we make a change like this to section 2.1.9:
> 
> "2.1.9. Binary
> 
>    Data of type Binary contains a sequence of zero or more octets.  The
>    default Binary is a sequence of zero octets.
> 
>    Conversions:
> 
>    String  The contents of the string are interpreted as a BASE64
> encoding
>       and converted following the rules in RFC XXXX with <insert
> alphabet here>
>       and <insert statement about ignoring line breaks here>."
> 
> comments?
> 
> also, if we have a conversion from string to binary, must we have a
> conversion the other way? it would be simple to define, just curious
> if peeps think we MUST do it.
> 
> -cheers
> -meadhbh
> --
> meadhbh hamrick * it's pronounced "maeve"
> @OhMeadhbh * http://meadhbh.org/ * OhMeadhbh@gmail.com
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