Request for comment: dynamically synthesised URLs

Ideas
2

Hmm. This problem bears a vague resemblance to what the Web Search add-on gramplet approaches.

In the original 2010 WebConnect pack add-on Quick Reports, @dsblank composed URLs from Gramps records to pass parameters to online databases. It suffered from a high rate of link rot because the online databases constantly evolved their patterns for parameter passing.

Because the patterns were buried in the code, it was very scarey for non-coding websurfers to add or maintain the patterns. Perhaps the most important reason it was under utilized: the innovative interface used the QuickReports context menu. Which made it too invisible and laborious to navigate.

In WebSearch, @Urchello took a different swing at the problem. Firstly, it made the pattern formulation much easier to access and maintain for non-coders websurfers who recognized URL-based query patterns. Secondly, it allowed custom Attributes to be used to store Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) and feed those custom Attribute values as paramters in the URL composition. Finally, by moving the interface to a (configurable) Gramplet, it made the online lookup opportunities more visible and accessible.

However, it adds enormous “clutter” to the Attribute list for a single add-on. So much that is might require layering on some sort of Hierarchy or Filtering for the Attribute menus. And the labeling of the links in the UI is so highly abbreviated that they become obscure.

If these other concepts could be integrated (evolved) into the “dynamically synthesised URLs” proposed approach using a Citation (CITE) plug-in type, it could be a revolutionary refinement.

Due to the high rate of link rot, it might need an addition a suite of complimentary tools though. Such as:

  1. a validation report that generates samples each Request for comment: dynamically synthesised URLs currently in-use (or more rigorous “all in use”) as a webpage. Linkrot could be quickly identified by ruuning the webpage through a link checker tool, like Xenu LinkSleuth.
  2. a harvester that archives Webpage (“Complete” or “Single File”) dated snapshots of those synthesised URLs pages. (But makes them part of a local “Repository” with the URI as a “Call Number” to avoid polluting/overloading the Media category.)

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