[quote]
Originally posted by CliveDavenhall^?
Lookup DataHoldersDetails^?.
Lookup the details of a named set of DataHolders^? and containers (which are specified using a wild-carded name; see Section `Naming DataHolders^? and searching the MySpace System to find them', below).

given:
User identifier (string)
Community identifier (string)
MySpace names of the DataHolders^? whose details are to be looked up.
Typically the names will be supplied as a partly wild-carded string and names which match will be looked up (string)

returned:
List of MySpace details for all the DataHolders^? that match the given criterion.
status information (including boolean success/failure flag, human-readable error string and perhaps other information).
[/quote]

Based on the following data.

<!-- First node, user name -->
<container ident="####" name="frog">
    <!-- Second node, location -->
    <container ident="####" name="cambridge">
        <!-- Containers and data holders at that location -->
        <container ident="####" name="2003">
            <container ident="####" name="04">
                <container ident="####" name="tables">
                    <holder ident="####" name="results-A" type="VO-TABLE"/>
                    <holder ident="####" name="results-B" type="VO-TABLE"/>
                    <container ident="####" name="images">
                        <holder ident="####" name="image-A" type="VO-IMAGE"/>
                    </container>
                </container>
            </container>
            <container ident="####" name="05">
                <container ident="####" name="tables">
                    <holder ident="####" name="results-C" type="VO-TABLE"/>
                    <holder ident="####" name="results-D" type="VO-TABLE"/>
                </container>
            </container>
        </container>
    </container>
</container>

How about the following for the XML messages:

<!--+
    | User 'frog' creates a new explorer view and sets the path.
    | Request list of containers for VO-TABLE items that match the path.
    | (using Ant style wildcards in the path)
    +-->
<lookup-request>
    <request>
        <!-- Who is asking -->
        <user>
            <user>frog</user>
            <community>xxxx</community>
        </user>
        <!-- What they want to match -->
        <query>
            <!-- Path of the matching items -->
            <path>/frog/cambridge/**/tables/*</path>
            <!-- Type(s) of the matching items -->
            <types>
                <type>VO-TABLE</type>
                <type>AST-CONTAINER</type>
            </types>
        </query>
        <!-- What they want back -->
        <select>
            <filter>
                <!-- Type(s) of the matching items -->
                <types>
                    <type>AST-CONTAINER</type>
                </types>
            </filter>
            <!-- The format of the response -->
            <format>AST-FORMAT-NESTED|AST-FORMAT-LIST</format>
        </select>
    </request>
</lookup-request>

<!--+
    | Response is set of containers for VO-TABLE items that match the path.
    | (with nested container elements)
    +-->
<lookup-response>
    <!--+
        | The original request.
        | Not required in the production system, useful for debugging during development.
        +-->
    <request>
        <!-- Who is asking -->
        <user>
            <user>frog</user>
            <community>xxxx</community>
        </user>
        <!-- What they want to match -->
        <query>
            <!-- Path of the matching items -->
            <path>/frog/cambridge/**/tables/*</path>
            <!-- Type(s) of the matching items -->
            <types>
                <type>VO-TABLE</type>
                <type>AST-CONTAINER</type>
            </types>
        </query>
        <!-- What they want back -->
        <select>
            <filter>
                <!-- Type(s) of the matching items -->
                <types>
                    <type>AST-CONTAINER</type>
                </types>
            </filter>
            <!-- The format of the response -->
            <format>AST-FORMAT-NESTED</format>
        </select>
    </request>
    <!--+
        | The results.
        +-->
    <results>
        <status>
            <!-- The status code -->
            <status>AST-STATUS-SUCCESS</status>
            <!-- Optional details element -->
            <details>Optional details of the reason if status is not success ....</details>
        </status>
        <elements>
            <element type="AST-CONTAINER" ident="####" name="frog">
                <element type="AST-CONTAINER" ident="####" name="cambridge">
                    <element type="AST-CONTAINER" ident="####" name="2003">
                        <element type="AST-CONTAINER" ident="####" name="04">
                            <element type="AST-CONTAINER" ident="####" name="tables">
                                <!--+
                                    | Only containers requested, so no data items listed.
                                    | The 'images' container matches the path, but does not contain any VO-TABLE data
                                    | It gets included in the list because the query asked for VO-TABLE and AST-CONTAINERS.
                                    +-->
                                <element type="AST-CONTAINER" ident="####" name="images">
                                </element>
                            </element>
                        </element>
                        <element type="AST-CONTAINER" ident="####" name="05">
                            <element ident="####" name="tables">
                                <!--+
                                    | Only containers requested, so no data items listed.
                                    +-->
                            </element>
                        </element>
                    </element>
                </element>
            </element>
        </elements>
    </results>
</lookup-response>

<!--+
    | Alternative response with flat list of elements.
    +-->
<lookup-response>
    <!--+
        | The original request.
        | Not required in the production system, useful for debugging during development.
        +-->
    <request>
        <!-- Who is asking -->
        <user>
            <user>frog</user>
            <community>xxxx</community>
        </user>
        <!-- What they want to match -->
        <query>
            <!-- Path of the matching items -->
            <path>/frog/cambridge/**/tables/*</path>
            <!-- Type(s) of the matching items -->
            <types>
                <type>VO-TABLE</type>
                <type>AST-CONTAINER</type>
            </types>
        </query>
        <!-- What they want back -->
        <select>
            <filter>
                <!-- Type(s) of the matching items -->
                <types>
                    <type>AST-CONTAINER</type>
                </types>
            </filter>
            <!-- The format of the response -->
            <format>AST-FORMAT-LIST</format>
        </select>
    </request>
    <!--+
        | The results.
        +-->
    <results>
        <status>
            <!-- The status code -->
            <status>AST-STATUS-SUCCESS</status>
            <!-- Optional details element -->
            <details>Optional details of the reason if status is not success ....</details>
        </status>
        <elements>
            <!--+
                | Flat list of the matching containers
                | The two 'tables' containers are listed because they contain VO-TABLE items.
                | The 'images' container matches the path, but does not contain any VO-TABLE data
                | It gets included in the list because the query asked for VO-TABLE and AST-CONTAINERS.
                +-->
            <element type="AST-CONTAINER" ident="####" name="tables" path="frog/cambridge/2003/04"/>
            <element type="AST-CONTAINER" ident="####" name="images" path="frog/cambridge/2003/04/tables"/>
            <element type="AST-CONTAINER" ident="####" name="tables" path="frog/cambridge/2003/05"/>
        </elements>
    </results>
</lookup-response>

<!--+
    | User selects a folder 'frog/cambridge/2003/04/tables'.
    | Request list of VO-TABLE items in a container, specified using container path.
    +-->
<lookup-request>
    <request>
        <!-- Who is asking -->
        <user>
            <user>frog</user>
            <community>xxxx</community>
        </user>
        <!-- What they want to match -->
        <query>
            <!-- Path of the matching items -->
            <path>/frog/cambridge/2003/04/tables/*</path>
            <!-- Type(s) of the matching items -->
            <types>
                <type>VO-TABLE</type>
                <type>AST-CONTAINER</type>
            </types>
        </query>
        <!-- What they want back -->
        <select>
            <filter>
                <!-- Type(s) of the matching items -->
                <types>
                    <!--+
                        | This means any of the matching items.
                        | We could make this optional, and default to 'any' if not specified.
                        +-->
                    <type>AST-ANY</type>
                </types>
            </filter>
            <!-- The format of the response -->
            <format>AST-FORMAT-LIST</format>
        </select>
    </request>
</lookup-request>

<!--+
    | Request list of VO-TABLE items in a container.
    | Alternative form, using container ident.
    +-->
<lookup-request>
    <request>
        <!-- Who is asking -->
        <user>
            <user>frog</user>
            <community>xxxx</community>
        </user>
        <!-- What they want to match -->
        <query>
            <!-- Container identifier -->
            <container>####</container>
            <!-- Type(s) of the matching items -->
            <types>
                <type>VO-TABLE</type>
                <type>AST-CONTAINER</type>
            </types>
        </query>
        <!-- What they want back -->
        <select>
            <filter>
                <!-- Type(s) of the matching items -->
                <types>
                    <!--+
                        | This means any of the matching items.
                        | We could make this optional, and default to 'any' if not specified.
                        +-->
                    <type>AST-ANY</type>
                </types>
            </filter>
            <!-- The format of the response -->
            <format>AST-FORMAT-LIST</format>
        </select>
    </request>
</lookup-request>

<!--+
    | Container contents response with flat list of elements.
    +-->
<lookup-response>
    <!--+
        | The original request.
        | Not required in the production system, useful for debugging during development.
        +-->
    <request>
        <!-- Who is asking -->
        <user>
            <user>frog</user>
            <community>xxxx</community>
        </user>
        <!-- What they want to match -->
        <query>
            <!-- Container identifier -->
            <container>####</container>
            <!-- Type(s) of the matching items -->
            <types>
                <type>VO-TABLE</type>
                <type>AST-CONTAINER</type>
            </types>
        </query>
        <!-- What they want back -->
        <select>
            <filter>
                <!-- Type(s) of the matching items -->
                <types>
                    <!--+
                        | This means any of the matching items.
                        | We could make this optional, and default to 'any' if not specified.
                        +-->
                    <type>AST-ANY</type>
                </types>
            </filter>
            <!-- The format of the response -->
            <format>AST-FORMAT-LIST</format>
        </select>
    </request>
    <!--+
        | The results.
        +-->
    <results>
        <status>
            <!-- The status code -->
            <status>AST-STATUS-SUCCESS</status>
            <!-- Optional details element -->
            <details>Optional details of the reason if status is not success ....</details>
        </status>
        <elements>
            <!--+
                | Flat list of the matching items (data and containers).
                | The two data holders are listed because they contain VO-TABLE data.
                | The 'images' container matches the path, but does not contain any VO-TABLE data
                | It gets included in the list because the query asked for VO-TABLE and AST-CONTAINERS.
                +-->
            <element type="VO-TABLE" ident="####" name="results-A" path="frog/cambridge/2003/04/tables"/>
            <element type="VO-TABLE" ident="####" name="results-B" path="frog/cambridge/2003/04/tables"/>
            <element type="AST-CONTAINER" ident="####" name="images" path="frog/cambridge/2003/04/tables"/>
        </elements>
    </results>
</lookup-response>

I have tried to make the XML as 'Xtensible' as possible. At the moment, we only have VO-TABLE data, but we might as well allow space for different data types later on.

I've described two types of response format, flat-list and nested. The flat-list is probably the easiest for you, but nested would be useful for us. If the nested elements is tricky, don't panic. I think I might be able to come up with an XSL transform to convert flat-list into nested if required.

I suppose first question is 'Is this what you were thinking of ?'
If this is close, the I'll build a more detailed schema for it.

-- DaveMorris - 29 May 2003