[webservices] A question of location ID, how to represent empty IDs in XML?

[Chad Trabant]

On Jul 28, 2014, at 9:03 AM, Philip Crotwell <crotwell at seis.sc.edu> wrote:

> On Mon, Jul 28, 2014 at 10:18 AM, Joachim Saul <saul at gfz-potsdam.de> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> The most important consistency is with the SEED standard.
> 
> I would argue that consistency for end users is the only thing that
> matters. Consistency with the SEED spec may be a means to that end,
> but if the end users do not perceive it as being consistent, it isn't
> consistent.
> 
> To me, that means we need to look at the bigger picture. Ideally we
> would have location ids that could be represented by exactly the same
> characters in:
>   stationXML
>   miniseed
>   URLS
>   client displays
>   databases
>  and even email
> in a way that is explicit, consistent and natural for the end user.

I completely agree that this should be our ultimate goal.  The idea of making this change in XML is to set us on just such a path.  

Here are some others I would add to the list:

  use in command lines
  use in other data formats

Chad