Right; the key to remember is that I'm mainly addressing the "how do we
specify objects" issue. Caching is both a motivation and a side-effect,
but it isn't really the central question I'm looking at.
The fact is that VRML 1.0 addresses objects by URL. That's practical
and easy, but it has some *very* strong consequences about lots of
things, from transport to sharing to caching. The keyword scheme
attempts to at least weaken that tight 1-to-1 bonding, and will
hopefully have the consequence of making people think about these
issues. In the long run, I suspect that the sort of formal model
Robert describes is the way to go, but it isn't going to happen
today. Hopefully, keywords are a first step in the right direction.
-- Justin
Who is quite enjoying the responses to my
proposal; some of the discussion is very
interesting...
Random Quote du Jour:
"While I'd hardly say I'm morally bankrupt, you could probably make
a good case for me being in moral receivership."
-- Richard Sexton