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Re: [xacml] change request: namespaces in xpath expressions

  • 1.  Re: [xacml] change request: namespaces in xpath expressions

    Posted 09-30-2002 07:48
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    Subject: Re: [xacml] change request: namespaces in xpath expressions


    
    Simon,
    
    You are right. So I agree with your proposal to use xmlns attribute
    to indicate the XPath namespace and prefix. I first intended to explicitly
    specify
    policy-specific information separate from schema-level information but I
    think
    it might be a minor issue. Since I was a little concerned about the
    semantics
    duplication particularly of the inheritance through the policy hierarchy,
    using
    xmlns attribute satisfies this. So please post a change request to the list
    to
    remove XPathNamespace element and text change in the spec.
    
    Michiharu Kudo
    
    IBM Tokyo Research Laboratory, Internet Technology
    Tel. +81 (46) 215-4642   Fax +81 (46) 273-7428
    
    
    
    
                                                                                                                                                        
                          Simon Godik                                                                                                                   
                          <simon@godik.com>        To:       xacml@lists.oasis-open.org                                                                 
                                                   cc:                                                                                                  
                          2002/09/29 05:34         Subject:  Re: [xacml] change request: namespaces in xpath expressions                                
                                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                        
    
    
    
    Michiharu,
    The other use of namespace decl I'm aware of is QName
    for the values of xml attributes, such as "xs:string", and XSLT where
    namespace prefixes of xpath expressions are expanded when expression is
    evaluated.
    If you do not want to use xmlns decl, I agree with your proposal:
    drop XPathNamespace element from the AttributeSelector and leave
    it the PolicyDefaults element only.
    
    Simon
    
    ----- Original Message -----
    From: "Michiharu Kudoh" <KUDO@jp.ibm.com>
    To: <xacml@lists.oasis-open.org>
    Sent: Saturday, September 28, 2002 8:19 AM
    Subject: Re: [xacml] change request: namespaces in xpath expressions
    
    
    >
    > Simon,
    > Do you know any spec which use xmlns attribute not for complementing the
    > element name? If yes, I want to see that. If not, I would prefer to have
    > explicit XPathNamespace element. In the namespace specification, it
    defines
    > that namespaces are applied to the element. They are meant to be used by
    a
    > validating XML parser. My preference is that we don't add any xmlns
    > attribute that is irrespective of a validation semantics. If you are
    > concerned with the semantics of the scope of the XPathNamespace that is
    > identical to one defined for the xmlns, I am ok to simplify it by
    removing
    > XPathNamespace element from AttributeSelector. And PolicyDefaults in
    Policy
    > element defines XPathNamespace of Policy and Rule. PolicyDefaults in
    > PolicySet element defines XPathNamespace of PolicySet. This is much
    > simpler. It is clearer because policy writer explicitly defines the
    > namespace expected in the request context.
    >
    > Michiharu Kudo
    >
    > IBM Tokyo Research Laboratory, Internet Technology
    > Tel. +81 (46) 215-4642   Fax +81 (46) 273-7428
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >                       Simon Godik
    >                       <simon@godik.com>        To:
    xacml@lists.oasis-open.org
    >                                                cc:
    >                       2002/09/28 03:42         Subject:  Re: [xacml]
    change request: namespaces in xpath expressions
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > Michiharu,
    > You are correct, xmlns decl is used for elements and we have data.
    > Our first problem is that we do not cover all cases with XPathNamespace
    > element. Also, declaring XPathNamespace in the PolicyDefaults is
    > equivalent in my opinion to declare namespace prefix on the Policy
    itself.
    > So I'd like to use xmlns decl, although it's usage is applied to data.
    > Simon
    >
    > ----- Original Message -----
    > From: "Michiharu Kudoh" <KUDO@jp.ibm.com>
    > To: "Simon Godik" <simon@godik.com>
    > Cc: <xacml@lists.oasis-open.org>
    > Sent: Friday, September 27, 2002 5:05 AM
    > Subject: Re: [xacml] change request: namespaces in xpath expressions
    >
    >
    > >
    > > I understand your intention but I am not sure whether or not using
    > standard
    > > XML namespace (your first proposal) is really good for our case.
    > >
    > > My opinion is that standard XML namespace (you mean xmlns:md
    > > ="http://www.... record.xsd", right?) should primarily mean the
    namespace
    > > for element name of the policy itself. In other words, XACML policy may
    > > include other namespace (currently seems not but actually we had when
    > SAML
    > > schema fragment was used in our policy). I think xmlns should be used
    for
    > > that case. Since we need to determine the namespace for the value of
    the
    > > policy (not element name nor attribute name), it seems reasonable to
    use
    > > application-specific namespace designator (XPathNamespace) currently we
    > > have. How do you think?
    > >
    > > Michiharu Kudo
    > >
    > > IBM Tokyo Research Laboratory, Internet Technology
    > > Tel. +81 (46) 215-4642   Fax +81 (46) 273-7428
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > >                       Simon Godik
    > >                       <simon@godik.com>        To:
    > xacml@lists.oasis-open.org
    > >                                                cc:
    > >                       2002/09/27 14:04         Subject:  [xacml] change
    > request: namespaces in xpath expressions
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > > There are several instances in the policy schema where we pass xpath
    > > expressions as arguments.
    > > 1. In the case of <xacml:AttributeSelector> element RequestContextPath
    > > attribute contains xpath expression
    > > that selects xacml attribute value from the context.
    > > 2. When xpath functions are used in the target, the value to match
    agains
    > > is xpath expression.
    > > When xpath functions are used in conditions they take xpath expressions
    > as
    > > arguments.
    > >
    > > All examples are from section 4.2
    > >
    > > For the attribute-selector we use XPathNamespace element that maps
    > > namespace uri to namespace prefix
    > > (essentially duplicating standard xml namespace declaration)
    > >
    > > AttributeSelector:
    > > <AttributeSelector RequestContextPath=
    > >     "//ctx:RequestContext/md:record/md:patient/md:policyNumber">
    > >     <XPathNamespace NamespaceURI="urn:names:tc:xacml:1.0:context"
    Prefix
    > ="
    > > ctx"/>
    > >     <XPathNamespace
    > NamespaceURI="http://www.medico.com/schemas/record.xsd";
    > > Prefix="md"/>
    > > </AttributeSelector>
    > >
    > > For other uses of xpath functions we do not have special provisions for
    > > namespace mapping.
    > > Here is how xpath expression is used in the target to match request:
    > >
    > > <ResourceMatch matchId="function:xpath-match">
    > >     <ResourceAttributeDesignator AttributeId=
    > >         "urn:oasis:names:tc:xacml:1.0:resource:xpath"/>
    > >     <AttributeValue>/md:record</AttributeValue>
    > > </ResourceMatch>
    > >
    > > In this case we rely on standard xml namespace declaration for the md
    > > prefix.
    > >
    > > To summarise: we use two methods to deal with the same problem: one is
    > > standard and one is not.
    > >
    > > Proposal:
    > > 1. Use standard xml namespace declarations mechanism in both cases and
    > drop
    > > <XPathNamespace> element.
    > > 2. Change RequestContextType attribute of AttributeSelector to
    xs:string
    > > (it is currently xs:anyURI).
    > >
    > > Simon
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > >
    >
    >
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