[MOBY-guts] biomoby commit

[Frank Gibbons]

fgibbons
Mon Oct 24 13:31:57 EDT 2005
Update of /home/repository/moby/moby-live/Docs/MOBY-S_API
In directory pub.open-bio.org:/tmp/cvs-serv24264

Modified Files:
	XMLPayloads.html 
Log Message:
 - Explain the situation regarding deregisterService.

moby-live/Docs/MOBY-S_API XMLPayloads.html,1.3,1.4
===================================================================
RCS file: /home/repository/moby/moby-live/Docs/MOBY-S_API/XMLPayloads.html,v
retrieving revision 1.3
retrieving revision 1.4
diff -u -r1.3 -r1.4
--- /home/repository/moby/moby-live/Docs/MOBY-S_API/XMLPayloads.html	2005/09/28 22:05:58	1.3
+++ /home/repository/moby/moby-live/Docs/MOBY-S_API/XMLPayloads.html	2005/10/24 17:31:57	1.4
@@ -651,5 +651,35 @@
 
   
 <h3><a name="deregisterService"></a>
-<deprecated>deregisterService</deprecated></h3>
-<deprecated>This method has now been deprecated.</deprecated>
\ No newline at end of file
+deregisterService</h3>
+
+It is intended that this method will ultimately be deprecated. A
+requirement for this to happen is the completed transition from a
+function-call based registration process to an RDF-document-based
+registration. For the time being, it remains in use.
+
+Under the current function-call based procedure, a
+service is registered by modifying the contents of the MOBY Central
+database, by means of a function call from the MOBY API (i.e.,
+<code>registerService</code>). The service remains registered until
+the function <code>deregisterService</code> is called. This method has
+some shortcomings, mostly to do with security. 
+
+It is proposed (see email archives for details), that a better way of
+doing things would be to continue to allow registration by means of a
+function call. A key change is that the function would return an RDF
+document describing the service. The document would be placed at a
+pre-specified location on the web, and an RDF-reading agent would
+periodically check on the service's continued existence (the agent
+might visit hourly or weekly, depending on who you
+ask). Deregistration of the service would be a simple matter of
+removing the RDF document. On the agent's next visit, it would notice
+that the document had disappeared, and remove it from MOBY Central's
+registry.
+
+Currently, it is possible to register a service under both schemes (to
+use the new scheme, simply provide a "signatureURL"
+parameter). <em>However, there is currently no agent, therefore
+services registered under the new scheme will remain registered
+indefinitely.</em> <strong>It is explicitly not allowed to deregister
+services which were registered using a signatureURL.</strong>