A Resource Namespace Service (RNS) functions as a Web Services registry that provides name-to-resource (i.e. name-to-EPR
) mapping. The RNS port type has the operations: add, list, move, query & remove.

Overall I thought that this version of the RNS specification was very good and would be very useful.

Detailed comments are as follows:

1.3.1.1 add

1. You use the term “operating virtual directory” here and in several of the following subsections. Perhaps this term 
should be explained – particular what you mean by “operating”.

2. In the description of the “/rns:add/entry_reference” component of the request message you should perhaps repeat 
that the component is blank for virtual directories. Would it be better to make the entry_reference component optional 
rather than blank, or does it not make any difference?

3. In cases where the /rns:add/entry_reference is the EPR of another namespace entry then you could get the possibility 
of circular references occurring. Should there be a fault message to catch this?

4. You don’t say what happens if you try to “add” to an entry that contains an EPR – i.e. it is a junction rather 
than a virtual directory? You should perhaps repeat the ” text from section 1.3.1.2: “If this operation is executed 
against a namespace junction, then an RNSEntryNotDirectoryFault MUST be returned”.


1.3.1.2 list

5. I assume that “list” also returns sub-dirs as well as junctions, but does not recursively list sub-dirs (by default
)?


1.3.1.3 move

6. What happens if you try to “move” a virtual directory to one of its own sub-directories?


1.3.1.4 query

7. Typo on line 3 of section 1.3.1.4 – says “including an endpoing reference”. Should say “including an endpoint 
reference”.


General comments:
8a. Why can’t directories have associated EPRs? For instance, if I want to have a directory that is actually a link to 
another directory in this (or another) namespace, then my virtual directory either needs a mapping to that other 
namespace entry (i.e. its EPR), or I would have to add a ‘dummy’ junction entry to my directory which has that EPR 
link in it.

8b. This does then make me think, should there really be any difference between directories and junctions? 

8c. If there is a clear difference then is it worth having distinct operations for directories, such as MakeDir and 
RemoveDir etc.?

9. How do I update/change the entry_reference for a particular entry_name?


Regards, Stephen Davey.