2022-09-13 Technical WG Agenda and Notes

New resolver update from Dave V:

• The N2T resolver replacement is being implemented using the Python FastAPI asynchronous web service framework. Goals of the implementation include minimal resource requirements, maintainable codebase, multiple parallel deployment support, emphasis on API access, and compliance with applicable specifications.

  The purposes of the implementation include:

  • Determine the applicable resolver service given an identifier or portion thereof.
  • Provide information about the resolver(s) available for a given identifier.
  • Periodically evaluate the operation of advertised resolver services.

  Challenges that need to be addressed include dealing with the ARK inflection requests and concocting a resolver service metadata spec.

• For example, a double “?” (“??”) can be reliably passed through to the web application, appearing as a single “?” since technically the second “?” is the query string. However a single “?” may be consumed at the client, the proxy, the load balancer, the web server, the web server application environment, or the web application framework with no hint to the web application since any of those components may perform some url normalization that removes the single “?” since it is a no-op under HTTP.

docker minting tool update:

SYNOPSIS                          (./arknoid)
    arknoid - tool to mint ARK (Archival Resource Key) identifiers

USAGE
    arknoid [options] init
    arknoid [options] mkminter [ NAAN[/Shoulder] ]
    arknoid [options] mint [ Count [ FQShoulder ] ]
    arknoid [options] testmint [ Count ]
    arknoid [options] lsminter [ FQShoulder ... ]
    arknoid [options] rmminter FQShoulder ...
    arknoid [options] test
    arknoid [ help ]

DESCRIPTION
    This script is used to mint globally unique, opaque, random-looking ARK
    (Archival Resource Key) identifiers. Here, "to mint" means to generate a
    string of letters and digits suitable for use as an ARK. To create an ARK
    is to publicize your assignment of a minted string to a thing (eg, for
    reference purposes). The less that you publicize your ARK assignment, the
    easier it is to "undo" the act of ARK creation.

    To ensure ARK global uniqueness, the ARK namespace is divided into NAANs
    (Name Assigning Authority Numbers). NAANs are further (sub)divided into
    Shoulders, which are useful for delegating responsibility within NAAN
    namespaces.

    To run this script you will need a NAAN that will appear at the beginning
    of your ARKs. You may request a NAAN for your organization using the link

        https://n2t.net/e/naan_request

    Use the "init" command to initialize the system with the NAAN reserved
    for you (usually a 5-digit number), or with the test NAAN, 99999.

    The "mkminter" command creates a minter of unique opaque strings consisting
    of digits, letters (betanumerics actually) and a final check character.
    With no arugment, it creates a random shoulder using your NAAN, but you may
    also specify a fully qualified shoulder of your choice. A Shoulder string
    must start with one or more betanumeric letters (bcdfghjkmnpqrstvwxz) and end in
    a digit. The NAAN should be one that you have been assigned (eg, 12345) via
    the global ARK NAAN registry. Each minter created with this command can
    generate 70,728,100 unique ARKs.

    The "mint" command generates Count (default 1) strings suitable for ARK
    assignments from the "fully qualified" minter name, FQShoulder, which
    consists of the NAAN, a '/', and the Shoulder string. The "testmint"
    command generates ARKs beginning with 99999, which recipients understand
    to be impersistent, untrustworthy, and for test purposes only.

    As an example, these commands create a minter, then use the minter to
    generate one ARK, and then again to generate 2000 ARKs.

        $ arknoid mkminter 98765 z4
    $ arknoid mint 1 98765/z4
    $ arknoid mint 2000 98765/z4

    Use the "lsminter" command with FQShoulder arguments to check for the
    existence of one or more minters, or use it with no arguments to list all
    minters available to you. Use the "rmminter" command to remove minters.
    The "test" command verifies whether the software is correctly installed
    and the "help" command (the default command) outputs documentation.

    Most commands exit with zero status on success and non-zero on error.
    It is possible to run init on more than one NAAN. This script relies on
    the Noid (v0.424) software.

OPTIONS
    -f force run even if not inside a docker container
    -e enter container if not already inside a container (xxx unused)
    -c on init, clear out any previous NAAN data

FILES
    ./minters/ark/<NAAN>/<Shoulder>