On Thu, 2004-07-15 at 10:13, Andy Powell wrote:
> The trouble is... when I get the string 'None' as a consumer of the vCard,
> how do I know whether it means "There isn't an appropriate value' or the
> name of the entity represented by the vCard is 'None'?
>
> If the element doesn't have a value, either leave it blank (which I
> think metadata consumers should reasonably interpret as "the value of this
> element is <null>") or don't provide the element at all (which I think
> metadata consumers should reasonably intepret as "no information
> provided").

I couldn't agree with this more!


> NOTE:objectClass\: organization

I still don't see the need for such an extension.

if FN equals ORG then 'vCard Represents Organization' is true;


> Option 1
>
> <![CDATA[BEGIN:VCARD
> FN:
> N:
> ORG:WH Smith
> NOTE:objectClass\: organization
> VERSION:3.0
> END:VCARD]]>

I don't like leaving the names blank.  FN is generally used as the title
for the vCard when being presented in address books and the like.  More
importantly, I think it makes sense for an organization vCard to have a
name too, being that of the organization itself.

I also don't have a problem with filling in the parts of N that do make
sense semantically.  My thinking was that since FN and N are supposed to
be sort of alternate versions of each other, that all FN data should
probably also be in N somewhere.  Since organizations don't have first
and last names, Additional Name was the best fit.

> Option 2
>
> <![CDATA[BEGIN:VCARD
> ORG:WH Smith
> NOTE:objectClass\: organization
> VERSION:3.0
> END:VCARD]]>

If people insist on no names (violating the vCard spec), I think this is
the best option (I would much rather see names though).  This is
certainly better than 'None', as at least the processor will know it
doesn't have a valid value for that field.

If CanCore suggested 'None', Norm and I are going to have a little
discussion :)

I think this same argument extends against the "unknown" mime type
values if it's required.

> Option 3
>
> <![CDATA[BEGIN:VCARD
> FN:WH Smith
> N:WH Smith
> ORG:WH Smith
> NOTE:objectClass\: organization
> VERSION:3.0
> END:VCARD]]>

I don't think your N here is valid - semantically "WH Smith" is not a
Family Name.

"The structured (N) type value corresponds, in sequence, to the Family
Name, Given Name, Additional Names, Honorific Prefixes, and Honorific
Suffixes. The text components are separated by the SEMI-COLON character
(ASCII decimal 59). Individual text components can include multiple text
values (e.g., multiple Additional Names) separated by the COMMA
character (ASCII decimal 44)."


Anyhow, in summary, I still stand behind my 'Option 4':

<![CDATA[BEGIN:VCARD
FN:WH Smith
N:;;WH Smith
ORG:WH Smith
VERSION:3.0
END:VCARD]]>

- It's a valid vCard instance.
- Having a name, it should display correctly.
- Each attribute makes sense semantically (IMO)
        - I am not labeling an organization name as a family name.
        - Attributes that don't make sense are blank/null.
        - Empty attributes will be recognized as such by any processor.
        - FN and N are coherent WRT each other.
- You can tell it represents an org because ORG equals FN.


Good Day.

--
Chris Hubick
mailto:[log in to unmask]
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://adlib.athabascau.ca/~hubick/
http://www.hubick.com/


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