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PaceOptionalSummary


Abstract

Enable title-only feeds by removing the requirement for <atom:summary> in the case where there's no content.

Status

Open

Rationale

There are many existence proofs of title-only feeds, and little reason why Atom should rule out this idiom. In the case that there is content and it is either remote or non-textual, the summary should still be required on accessibility grounds.

Proposal

In section 4.1.2 of format-08, there is a bullet point as follows: "atom:entry elements MUST contain an atom:summary element in any of the following cases:". Remove the first item in the sub-list, which reads "the atom:entry element contains no atom:content element.", leaving summary required in the cases where the content is remote or non-textual. (Editorial: it may be possible to lose the sub-list).

The text would read as follows:

 The following child elements are defined by this specification (note
   that it requires the presence of some of these elements):

   o  atom:entry elements MUST contain exactly one atom:author element,
      unless the atom:entry contains an atom:source element which
      contains an atom:author element, or, in an Atom Feed Document, the
      atom:feed element contains an atom:author element itself.
   o  atom:entry elements MUST NOT contain more than one atom:author
      element.
   o  atom:entry elements MAY contain any number of atom:category
      elements.
   o  atom:entry elements MUST NOT contain more than one atom:content
      element.
   o  atom:entry elements MAY contain any number of atom:contributor
      elements.
   o  atom:entry elements MUST NOT contain more than one atom:copyright
      element.
   o  atom:entry elements MUST contain exactly one atom:id element.
   o  atom:entry elements that contain no child atom:content element
      MUST contain at least one atom:link element with a rel attribute
      value of "alternate".
   o  atom:entry elements MUST NOT contain more than one atom:link
      element with a rel attribute value of "alternate" that has the
      same combination of type and hreflang attribute values.
   o  atom:entry elements MAY contain additional atom:link elements
      beyond those described above.
   o  atom:entry elements MUST NOT contain more than one atom:published
      element.
   o  atom:entry elements MUST NOT contain more than one atom:source
      element.
   o  atom:entry elements MUST contain an atom:summary element in any of
      the following cases:
      *  the atom:entry contains an atom:content that has a "src"
         attribute (and is thus empty).
      *  the atom:entry contains content that is encoded in Base64; i.e.
         the "type" attribute of atom:content is a MIME media type
         [MIMEREG] and does not begin with "text/" nor end with "+xml".
   o  atom:entry elements MUST NOT contain more than one atom:summary
      element.
   o  atom:entry elements MUST have exactly one "atom:title" element.
   o  atom:entry elements MUST contain exactly one atom:updated element.

Impacts

Title-only feeds become legal in Atom.

Notes

See Also: PaceDefineAtomProcessor See Also: PaceBriefExample


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