[uf-discuss] Some hcard feedback from a vCard implementor

[Sam Roberts]

On Tue, Apr 04, 2006 at 02:51:00PM -0700, Ryan King wrote:
> On Apr 4, 2006, at 1:35 PM, Sam Roberts wrote:
> >Specific example, the NOTE field. Its value type is TEXT. TEXT can  
> >have
> >newlines, they are encoded as the two characters '\', and 'n'.  The
> >hcard spec doesn't say how to handle TEXT, doesn't even mention its
> >existence, AFAICT, and I can't find an example where \n was used on
> >/hcard-examples, so I'm not sure how newlines would get represented in
> >hcard.
> 
> They get represented as you would in any HTML document. I believe  
> http://microformats.org/wiki/hcard-parsing covers some of this ground.

> >Anyhow, its my suggestion that the spec would be more useful if it was
> >written so the text is normative and the examples serve only as
> >illustration, and to help implementors write tests.
> 
> Part of the reason the spec is so sparse, is that we want to avoid  
> duplicating information from the RFC– duplication leads to errors,  
> which we want to avoid as much as reasonably possible.

Ok, now that I get this is a kindof internal markup inside XHTML, rather
than what I think of as an XML format, I think I have a bit of a better
idea now why it looks like it does, and why it appears so vague.

> Also, as a sort-of meta-comment, I, personally would appreciate it if  
> comments were phrased as questions or suggestions, not as complaints.  
> Your points are valid, but please don't come at this project as if  
> we're being negligent.

Tone is hard in email, Ryan, I'm trying my best.  I'm pretty sure every
comment I made was accompanied with specific suggestions, intended to be
helpful, but suggestions have to be motivated by something. Suggesting a
change without saying why isn't really constructive.

Misunderstandings about FN and its relationship with N are common in the
vCard world. Its almost a FAQ on the imc.org lists.  The RFC is way too
vague, and it describes a solution without describing the problem it is
trying to solve. It really looks from the wiki like you guys were
falling into a trap others have fallen into (myself included) when
implementing vCards, trying to parse meaning from the FN field instead of
using it just for presentation.  Sorry if that came off too strong.

Good day,
Sam