Re: [Tools-discuss] bibxml3 database reload frequency

[Carsten Bormann <[e-mail]>]

On 2020-08-21, at 09:43, Julian Reschke <[e-mail]> wrote:
> 
> Am 21.08.2020 um 00:24 schrieb Kent Watsen:
>> Hi Henrik and Carsten - thanks for the responses!
>> ...
> 
> FWIW, another way to avoid this is to reference the ID *with* version
> number. That's a static, reliable reference.

Using kramdown-rfc’s indirection methods that actually is less painful than it sounds.  Still requires going through the references once (which idnits can do, with a few missed and a few false positives).  Certainly better than fighting with an old cache entry.

> And yes, that means that the source document needs to be updated when
> the ID is replaced. I consider that a feature, at least in those cases
> where the concrete version of the ID matters (such as when referencing
> specific details that might change or move to other sections).

That is indeed sometimes a useful editorial device.  It is too bad that the standard bibxml files use the same anchor for specific versions and for the generic “most-recent" reference, so you cannot have both references (or references to multiple versions) in one document; again, fixed by kramdown-rfc’s anchor replacement mechanism.

My recommendation would be:
When you need to reference a specific version, reference that, and use anchor replacement to get the version number into the label.
When you just want to reference the draft, use the “most-recent” reference, unless you have just changed that — in which case, use the reference to that specific version.  Occasionally, you will get an old version.  Kramdown-rfc’s cache lifetime is 1 h, but that doesn’t help with the longer processing intervals on the server.

Grüße, Carsten