Handle System - Specifications

Specifications

The Handle System is defined in informational RFCs 3650, 3651 and 3652 of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF); it includes an open set of protocols, a namespace, and a reference implementation of the protocols. Handles resolve to typed data. Documentation, software, and related information is provided by CNRI on a dedicated web site Each handle may have its own administrator(s) and administration of these handles can be done in a distributed environment. The name-to-value bindings may also be secured, both via signatures to verify the data and via challenge response to verify the transmission of the data, allowing handles to be used in trust management applications. The syntax of the handle encompasses any Unicode character and leaves the string construction to the assigner (thereby allowing inclusion of existing identifier strings if desired).

Implementation of the Handle System consists of Local Handle Services, each of which is made up of one or more sites that provide the servers that store specific handles. The Global Handle Registry¨ is a unique Local Handle Service which stores information on the prefixes (also known as naming authorities) within the Handle System and can be queried to find out where specific handles are stored on other Local Handle Services within this distributed system.

Handles can be used natively, or expressed as Uniform Resource Names (URNs) or Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). Although the Handle System is not currently a registered stand-alone implementation of URI or URN, it is a part of the info URI specification, RFC 4452. Handles may also be expressed as Uniform Resource Locators (URLS), by the use of a http proxy server.