Noticed that the current MetaWeblogAPI spec is missing a deletePost.
I thought this was added about a year ago. Seems to be gone now.
Just wondering.

Randy

--- In MetaWeblog-API@yahoogroups.com, "Dave Winer" <dave@u...> wrote:
> I just added docs for metaWeblog.getRecentPosts.
>
> http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/crimson1/stories/storyReader$371#metawebl
> oggetrecentposts
>
> Dave

Thanks! This is an important entry point, since it provides a client
app a way to get the post ids, which are essential for the basic entry
points.

The spec says:
"If numberOfPosts is greater than the number of posts in the weblog
you get all the posts in the weblog."

In practice, this request would time out for any high value of
numberofPosts.  Would it be acceptable for a server-side application
to send only post ids for values of numberofPosts >=100?

The reason I ask is that I'm looking for a way to get all the postids
from a blog.  Perhaps there's another way of doing that?

Best regards,

Jeffrey

The revisted MetaWeblog API spec is available, with caveats removed, here:

http://www.xmlrpc.com/metaWeblogApi

It's now safe to develop applications based on this spec, however, if
necessary there may be corrections and clarifications to the spec, but no
changes to the underlying format and protocol.

The only change in the format is that there is now a provision for
transmitting appkey's, should applications need to do so.

Thanks to Michael Bernstein for his help editing this document.

Dave

----- Original Message -----
From: <dwiner@...>
To: <dwiner@...>
Sent: Sunday, August 03, 2003 8:55 PM
Subject: New Message: Re: The MetaWeblog API (Draft)


> A new message was posted:
>
> Address: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/crimson1/discuss/msgReader$383
>
> By: Steven Garrity (steven@...)
>
> While working on an implementation for a MetaWeblog API server (for our
own private weblogging platform in PHP), I found the relationship between
the MetaWeblog API and the Blogger API quite confusing.
>
> I slowly and awkwardly came to the understanding that the MetaWeblog API
doesn't stand on its own, but extends the Blogger API. Do I even understand
this correctly? The phrasing "designed to enhance the Blogger API" is quite
vague - does this mean that an implementation of the MetaWeblogAPI also
requires the methods required by the Blogger API? Perhaps it's due to the
varied support in the available client software, but it seems that is the
case.
>
> Clarification on this subject (both in the spec, and in general) would be
appreciated.
>

I added a new note [1]  in the comments section of the MetaWeblog API spec
explaining that errors are handled through the fault-reporting procedure
described in the XML-RPC spec. Dave

[1] http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/crimson1/stories/storyReader$371#errors

I just added docs for metaWeblog.getRecentPosts.

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/crimson1/stories/storyReader$371#metawebl
oggetrecentposts

Dave

When adding this to the new spec I would definitely specify really
well what "recent" meant--adding a parameter for the cut-off date
(optionally empty for all posts) would be, I think, a simple solution
to make clear which posts are obtained.

d

--- In MetaWeblog-API@yahoogroups.com, Brent Simmons <brent@r...> wrote:
> metaWeblog.getRecentPosts is another method.
>
> -Brent
>
>
> On Friday, August 1, 2003, at 10:45  AM, Dave Winer wrote:
>
> > Brent, it was an oversight that I didn't include that in the new
> > draft. I just corrected that oversight (and a couple of others).
> >
> > http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/crimson1/stories/
> > storyReader$371#metawebloggetcategories
> >
> > Dave
> >   ----- Original Message -----
> >   From: Brent Simmons
> >   To: MetaWeblog-API@yahoogroups.com
> >   Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 1:36 PM
> >   Subject: Re: [MetaWeblog-API] a couple of comments
> >
> >
> >   There is a metaWeblog.getCategories method:
> >
> >   http://www.xmlrpc.com/
> >   metaWeblogApi#update31602AddedMetawebloggetcategories
> >
> >   -Brent
> >
> >
> >   On Friday, August 1, 2003, at 10:29  AM, Diego Doval wrote:
> >
> >> Finally (and I know this one goes beyond the scope of just
formalizing
> >> more the spec, but I thought that it didn't hurt to ask :)) adding
> >> simply a
> >>
> >> metaWeblog.getCategoryList
> >>
> >> to mirror the mt.getCategoryList method would be great. Currently
> >> there is no way of obtaining the list of categories in a weblog
> >> through the MW API, and the user has to type it in by hand. Radio
> >> deals with categories by name, but other software (like MT) maps
> >> categories to IDs, which makes that method call essential.
> >>
> >> Another point is the examples. I think that adding one example per
> >> call would be great, but at a minimum a full newPost example is
really
> >> useful for new users. You're welcome to take the newPost example for
> >> MW from my blogging API mini-how to at
> >> http://www.dynamicobjects.com/d2r/archives/001929.html
> >>
> >> cheers,
> >>
> >> d
> >
> >
> >
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> >
> >
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On Fri, 1 Aug 2003, Dave Winer wrote:

> Actually this one is not in the metaWeblog spec, it is in an RFC that
> you posted in December last year.
>
> http://www.xmlrpc.com/discuss/msgReader$2366
>
> [....]
>
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Brent Simmons
>   Subject: Re: [MetaWeblog-API] a couple of comments
>
>   metaWeblog.getRecentPosts is another method.

FWIW, metaWeblog.getRecentPosts is already in use out in the wild (and
not just as part of the MovableType API), and has pretty much become a
de facto part of the standard anyhow.

And I thought you were already planning to incorporate the original
Blogger API calls into MetaWeblog API anyhow, with the demise of that
API?

--
Ernest MacDougal Campbell III, MCP+I, MCSE <dougal@...>
http://dougal.gunters.org/             http://spam.gunters.org/
   Web Design & Development:  http://www.mentalcollective.com/
        This message is guaranteed to be 100% eror frea!

I would argue that getRecentPosts actually is a standard part of the
metaWeblog API. It's supported by Manila, Radio, Movable Type, and
probably others. (In fact, it's more widely supported that
metaWeblog.getCategories. Movable Type uses a different method.)

And there is a blogger.getRecentPosts method, which Blogger and many
other systems support.

-Brent


On Friday, August 1, 2003, at 11:00  AM, Dave Winer wrote:

> Actually this one is not in the metaWeblog spec, it is in an RFC that
> you posted in December last year.
>
> http://www.xmlrpc.com/discuss/msgReader$2366
>
> I'm going to hold on for all requests that don't mirror functionality
> already present in the previous ununified spec(s), and listen to hear
> what other people think.
>
> Dave
>
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Brent Simmons
>   To: MetaWeblog-API@yahoogroups.com
>   Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 1:55 PM
>   Subject: Re: [MetaWeblog-API] a couple of comments
>
>
>   metaWeblog.getRecentPosts is another method.
>
>   -Brent
>
>
>   On Friday, August 1, 2003, at 10:45  AM, Dave Winer wrote:
>
>> Brent, it was an oversight that I didn't include that in the new
>> draft. I just corrected that oversight (and a couple of others).
>>
>> http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/crimson1/stories/
>> storyReader$371#metawebloggetcategories
>>
>> Dave
>>   ----- Original Message -----
>>   From: Brent Simmons
>>   To: MetaWeblog-API@yahoogroups.com
>>   Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 1:36 PM
>>   Subject: Re: [MetaWeblog-API] a couple of comments
>>
>>
>>   There is a metaWeblog.getCategories method:
>>
>>   http://www.xmlrpc.com/
>>   metaWeblogApi#update31602AddedMetawebloggetcategories
>>
>>   -Brent
>>
>>
>>   On Friday, August 1, 2003, at 10:29  AM, Diego Doval wrote:
>>
>>> Finally (and I know this one goes beyond the scope of just
>>> formalizing
>>> more the spec, but I thought that it didn't hurt to ask :)) adding
>>> simply a
>>>
>>> metaWeblog.getCategoryList
>>>
>>> to mirror the mt.getCategoryList method would be great. Currently
>>> there is no way of obtaining the list of categories in a weblog
>>> through the MW API, and the user has to type it in by hand. Radio
>>> deals with categories by name, but other software (like MT) maps
>>> categories to IDs, which makes that method call essential.
>>>
>>> Another point is the examples. I think that adding one example per
>>> call would be great, but at a minimum a full newPost example is
>>> really
>>> useful for new users. You're welcome to take the newPost example for
>>> MW from my blogging API mini-how to at
>>> http://www.dynamicobjects.com/d2r/archives/001929.html
>>>
>>> cheers,
>>>
>>> d
>>
>>
>>
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>>
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>
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--- In MetaWeblog-API@yahoogroups.com, "Dave Winer" <dave@u...> wrote:
> Description is just the description, nothing more. The name of the
category is the name of the sub-struct for the category (recall that
XML-RPC structs have names). The name of the struct must be unique,
making it a perfectly good ID. If Movable Type wants the tool to refer
to categories by that handle, that's what it should send as the name
of the sub-struct. Dave

Thanks, I understand what description is now--I think that adding an
example to the spec would remove ambiguities in this regard, making
clear what's the intended usage.

Re: the id, if I understand correctly you are proposing that an
MT-like implementation should use the ID as the struct name, so
instead of, say having a struct name "technology" you'd have "4" which
in the blog software is mapped to "technology". However, both the name
and the ID are necessary on the client side. Consider a typical
client-side posting tool for server-side software in which the
server-side software maps names to IDs. A user is presented with a
list of possible categories to choose from for the post (which must be
human-readable names). The blog software (client-side) must then map
from the human-readable name to the blog's category ID so the post can
proceed (on the server side). Adding the ID as optional would solve
this problem and implementations wouldn't need to add new functions to
address this mapping (Note: if the blog software didn't use the
description, it could use the description for the name, and the name
for the ID. This would, however, be breaking the spec since
description is only a name--but I guess it would be valid. It wouldn't
work when having all three ID, name, and description, though).

d

On Fri, 1 Aug 2003, Diego Doval wrote:

> Thanks for the reminder Brent (I forgot to check on the previous
> spec), I just saw that Dave updated the current spec with it as well.
> Since we're on the topic. Currently getCategories returns:
>
> -description, htmlUrl and rssUrl.
> [....]
> I think that adding as an optional parameter an "ID" (type string)
> would be useful, since it would cover the needs of software like MT
> that maps category names to IDs. (I use MT as an example because it's
> already available, but I think that this use would be common, as
> adding an indirection through an ID in this case solves all sorts of
> issues on the software side).

+1, though I'd make catId mandatory (and suggest duplicating
description, if the blog system in question doesn't have ids separate
from names). OTOH, since the spec already specifies using the category
name in other places, it might be too late to worry about it.

Also, is the documentation supposed to say that it returns an ARRAY of
structs, rather than a struct of structs? And if not, what are the
member names for the outer struct?

And lastly, the RSS spec has a "category" element. Does the content
stuct for MWAPI want "category" or "categories"? It's not as clear as it
could be. The example response uses "categories", so I've always assumed
that the posting struct would, too.

--
Ernest MacDougal Campbell III, MCP+I, MCSE <dougal@...>
http://dougal.gunters.org/             http://spam.gunters.org/
   Web Design & Development:  http://www.mentalcollective.com/
        This message is guaranteed to be 100% eror frea!

Description is just the description, nothing more. The name of the category is
the name of the sub-struct for the category (recall that XML-RPC structs have
names). The name of the struct must be unique, making it a perfectly good ID. If
Movable Type wants the tool to refer to categories by that handle, that's what
it should send as the name of the sub-struct. Dave


   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Diego Doval
   To: MetaWeblog-API@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 1:50 PM
   Subject: [MetaWeblog-API] Re: a couple of comments


   Thanks for the reminder Brent (I forgot to check on the previous
   spec), I just saw that Dave updated the current spec with it as well.
   Since we're on the topic. Currently getCategories returns:

   -description, htmlUrl and rssUrl.

   Now, description would be the name of the category, say "technology",
   am I right?

   htmlUrl and rssURL could probably be spec'd as optional parameters
   rather than mandatory, since in many cases either or both won't be
   present I think (most weblog software requires tweaks or additional
   configuration to provide feeds or archives for categories, while
   making category creation easy).

   I think that adding as an optional parameter an "ID" (type string)
   would be useful, since it would cover the needs of software like MT
   that maps category names to IDs. (I use MT as an example because it's
   already available, but I think that this use would be common, as
   adding an indirection through an ID in this case solves all sorts of
   issues on the software side).

   d


   --- In MetaWeblog-API@yahoogroups.com, Brent Simmons <brent@r...> wrote:
   > There is a metaWeblog.getCategories method:
   >
   > http://www.xmlrpc.com/
   > metaWeblogApi#update31602AddedMetawebloggetcategories
   >
   > -Brent
   >
   >
   > On Friday, August 1, 2003, at 10:29  AM, Diego Doval wrote:
   >
   > > Finally (and I know this one goes beyond the scope of just formalizing
   > > more the spec, but I thought that it didn't hurt to ask :)) adding
   > > simply a
   > >
   > > metaWeblog.getCategoryList
   > >
   > > to mirror the mt.getCategoryList method would be great. Currently
   > > there is no way of obtaining the list of categories in a weblog
   > > through the MW API, and the user has to type it in by hand. Radio
   > > deals with categories by name, but other software (like MT) maps
   > > categories to IDs, which makes that method call essential.
   > >
   > > Another point is the examples. I think that adding one example per
   > > call would be great, but at a minimum a full newPost example is really
   > > useful for new users. You're welcome to take the newPost example for
   > > MW from my blogging API mini-how to at
   > > http://www.dynamicobjects.com/d2r/archives/001929.html
   > >
   > > cheers,
   > >
   > > d



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Actually this one is not in the metaWeblog spec, it is in an RFC that you posted
in December last year.

http://www.xmlrpc.com/discuss/msgReader$2366

I'm going to hold on for all requests that don't mirror functionality already
present in the previous ununified spec(s), and listen to hear what other people
think.

Dave

   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Brent Simmons
   To: MetaWeblog-API@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 1:55 PM
   Subject: Re: [MetaWeblog-API] a couple of comments


   metaWeblog.getRecentPosts is another method.

   -Brent


   On Friday, August 1, 2003, at 10:45  AM, Dave Winer wrote:

   > Brent, it was an oversight that I didn't include that in the new
   > draft. I just corrected that oversight (and a couple of others).
   >
   > http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/crimson1/stories/
   > storyReader$371#metawebloggetcategories
   >
   > Dave
   >   ----- Original Message -----
   >   From: Brent Simmons
   >   To: MetaWeblog-API@yahoogroups.com
   >   Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 1:36 PM
   >   Subject: Re: [MetaWeblog-API] a couple of comments
   >
   >
   >   There is a metaWeblog.getCategories method:
   >
   >   http://www.xmlrpc.com/
   >   metaWeblogApi#update31602AddedMetawebloggetcategories
   >
   >   -Brent
   >
   >
   >   On Friday, August 1, 2003, at 10:29  AM, Diego Doval wrote:
   >
   >> Finally (and I know this one goes beyond the scope of just formalizing
   >> more the spec, but I thought that it didn't hurt to ask :)) adding
   >> simply a
   >>
   >> metaWeblog.getCategoryList
   >>
   >> to mirror the mt.getCategoryList method would be great. Currently
   >> there is no way of obtaining the list of categories in a weblog
   >> through the MW API, and the user has to type it in by hand. Radio
   >> deals with categories by name, but other software (like MT) maps
   >> categories to IDs, which makes that method call essential.
   >>
   >> Another point is the examples. I think that adding one example per
   >> call would be great, but at a minimum a full newPost example is really
   >> useful for new users. You're welcome to take the newPost example for
   >> MW from my blogging API mini-how to at
   >> http://www.dynamicobjects.com/d2r/archives/001929.html
   >>
   >> cheers,
   >>
   >> d
   >
   >
   >
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

metaWeblog.getRecentPosts is another method.

-Brent


On Friday, August 1, 2003, at 10:45  AM, Dave Winer wrote:

> Brent, it was an oversight that I didn't include that in the new
> draft. I just corrected that oversight (and a couple of others).
>
> http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/crimson1/stories/
> storyReader$371#metawebloggetcategories
>
> Dave
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Brent Simmons
>   To: MetaWeblog-API@yahoogroups.com
>   Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 1:36 PM
>   Subject: Re: [MetaWeblog-API] a couple of comments
>
>
>   There is a metaWeblog.getCategories method:
>
>   http://www.xmlrpc.com/
>   metaWeblogApi#update31602AddedMetawebloggetcategories
>
>   -Brent
>
>
>   On Friday, August 1, 2003, at 10:29  AM, Diego Doval wrote:
>
>> Finally (and I know this one goes beyond the scope of just formalizing
>> more the spec, but I thought that it didn't hurt to ask :)) adding
>> simply a
>>
>> metaWeblog.getCategoryList
>>
>> to mirror the mt.getCategoryList method would be great. Currently
>> there is no way of obtaining the list of categories in a weblog
>> through the MW API, and the user has to type it in by hand. Radio
>> deals with categories by name, but other software (like MT) maps
>> categories to IDs, which makes that method call essential.
>>
>> Another point is the examples. I think that adding one example per
>> call would be great, but at a minimum a full newPost example is really
>> useful for new users. You're welcome to take the newPost example for
>> MW from my blogging API mini-how to at
>> http://www.dynamicobjects.com/d2r/archives/001929.html
>>
>> cheers,
>>
>> d
>
>
>
>         Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
>               ADVERTISEMENT
>
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>

Thanks for the reminder Brent (I forgot to check on the previous
spec), I just saw that Dave updated the current spec with it as well.
Since we're on the topic. Currently getCategories returns:

-description, htmlUrl and rssUrl.

Now, description would be the name of the category, say "technology",
am I right?

htmlUrl and rssURL could probably be spec'd as optional parameters
rather than mandatory, since in many cases either or both won't be
present I think (most weblog software requires tweaks or additional
configuration to provide feeds or archives for categories, while
making category creation easy).

I think that adding as an optional parameter an "ID" (type string)
would be useful, since it would cover the needs of software like MT
that maps category names to IDs. (I use MT as an example because it's
already available, but I think that this use would be common, as
adding an indirection through an ID in this case solves all sorts of
issues on the software side).

d


--- In MetaWeblog-API@yahoogroups.com, Brent Simmons <brent@r...> wrote:
> There is a metaWeblog.getCategories method:
>
> http://www.xmlrpc.com/
> metaWeblogApi#update31602AddedMetawebloggetcategories
>
> -Brent
>
>
> On Friday, August 1, 2003, at 10:29  AM, Diego Doval wrote:
>
> > Finally (and I know this one goes beyond the scope of just formalizing
> > more the spec, but I thought that it didn't hurt to ask :)) adding
> > simply a
> >
> > metaWeblog.getCategoryList
> >
> > to mirror the mt.getCategoryList method would be great. Currently
> > there is no way of obtaining the list of categories in a weblog
> > through the MW API, and the user has to type it in by hand. Radio
> > deals with categories by name, but other software (like MT) maps
> > categories to IDs, which makes that method call essential.
> >
> > Another point is the examples. I think that adding one example per
> > call would be great, but at a minimum a full newPost example is really
> > useful for new users. You're welcome to take the newPost example for
> > MW from my blogging API mini-how to at
> > http://www.dynamicobjects.com/d2r/archives/001929.html
> >
> > cheers,
> >
> > d

Brent, it was an oversight that I didn't include that in the new draft. I just
corrected that oversight (and a couple of others).

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/crimson1/stories/storyReader$371#metawebloggetcateg\
ories

Dave
   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Brent Simmons
   To: MetaWeblog-API@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 1:36 PM
   Subject: Re: [MetaWeblog-API] a couple of comments


   There is a metaWeblog.getCategories method:

   http://www.xmlrpc.com/
   metaWeblogApi#update31602AddedMetawebloggetcategories

   -Brent


   On Friday, August 1, 2003, at 10:29  AM, Diego Doval wrote:

   > Finally (and I know this one goes beyond the scope of just formalizing
   > more the spec, but I thought that it didn't hurt to ask :)) adding
   > simply a
   >
   > metaWeblog.getCategoryList
   >
   > to mirror the mt.getCategoryList method would be great. Currently
   > there is no way of obtaining the list of categories in a weblog
   > through the MW API, and the user has to type it in by hand. Radio
   > deals with categories by name, but other software (like MT) maps
   > categories to IDs, which makes that method call essential.
   >
   > Another point is the examples. I think that adding one example per
   > call would be great, but at a minimum a full newPost example is really
   > useful for new users. You're welcome to take the newPost example for
   > MW from my blogging API mini-how to at
   > http://www.dynamicobjects.com/d2r/archives/001929.html
   >
   > cheers,
   >
   > d



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

There is a metaWeblog.getCategories method:

http://www.xmlrpc.com/
metaWeblogApi#update31602AddedMetawebloggetcategories

-Brent


On Friday, August 1, 2003, at 10:29  AM, Diego Doval wrote:

> Finally (and I know this one goes beyond the scope of just formalizing
> more the spec, but I thought that it didn't hurt to ask :)) adding
> simply a
>
> metaWeblog.getCategoryList
>
> to mirror the mt.getCategoryList method would be great. Currently
> there is no way of obtaining the list of categories in a weblog
> through the MW API, and the user has to type it in by hand. Radio
> deals with categories by name, but other software (like MT) maps
> categories to IDs, which makes that method call essential.
>
> Another point is the examples. I think that adding one example per
> call would be great, but at a minimum a full newPost example is really
> useful for new users. You're welcome to take the newPost example for
> MW from my blogging API mini-how to at
> http://www.dynamicobjects.com/d2r/archives/001929.html
>
> cheers,
>
> d

Dave, I thought that it would be useful to add the following methods
to round out MW:

metaWeblog.getUsersBlogs
metaWeblog.getUserInfo

Mirroring the blogger.getUsersBlogs and blogger.getUserInfo methods.

These two methods are quite useful (and necessary in many
circumstances), and considering that blogger is discontinuing support
for the 1.0 API it would be great if they would still be accessible
from MW. Otherwise in some cases there would be no option but to
resort to ad hoc solutions.

Finally (and I know this one goes beyond the scope of just formalizing
more the spec, but I thought that it didn't hurt to ask :)) adding
simply a

metaWeblog.getCategoryList

to mirror the mt.getCategoryList method would be great. Currently
there is no way of obtaining the list of categories in a weblog
through the MW API, and the user has to type it in by hand. Radio
deals with categories by name, but other software (like MT) maps
categories to IDs, which makes that method call essential.

Another point is the examples. I think that adding one example per
call would be great, but at a minimum a full newPost example is really
useful for new users. You're welcome to take the newPost example for
MW from my blogging API mini-how to at
http://www.dynamicobjects.com/d2r/archives/001929.html

cheers,

d

--- In MetaWeblog-API@yahoogroups.com, Andrew Grumet <aegrumet@m...>
wrote:
>
> One thing I didn't pick up from reading the spec is, is there a
standard practice for selecting a postid to put in the getPost() call?
  In other words, how would I tell my desktop authoring tool that I
want to edit "this post about TiVo, not that post about online
grocers"?
>
> I can imagine a number of solutions, some of which (but not all)
would bloat out the API.

Andrew: the blogger API includes the method blogger.getRecentPosts,
and once you've obtained the posts the user can choose one of
them--the posts returned include ID, so you can edit them. (See
http://www.movabletype.org/docs/mtmanual_programmatic.html for a
combined list of Blogger+Metaweblog+MT extensions list).

However, this method is not well defined (ie., what does "recent"
mean?).

Dave, my suggestion would be to add a simple method like
metaWeblog.getPosts(dateFrom). If the dateFrom parameter is empty,
then *all* posts for that weblog would be returned, otherwise all the
posts since that date would be returned.

d

One thing I didn't pick up from reading the spec is, is there a standard
practice for selecting a postid to put in the getPost() call?  In other words,
how would I tell my desktop authoring tool that I want to edit "this post about
TiVo, not that post about online grocers"?

I can imagine a number of solutions, some of which (but not all) would bloat out
the API.

Greetings!

I've been working on the long-delayed unified spec for the MetaWeblog
API. It's been documented in layers across several pages on the XML-
RPC site. Now there's a draft of a spec-on-one-page that attempts to
explain its design, how it works, and links to prior art.

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/crimson1/stories/storyReader$371

Developers please review the copy and let me know where it's unclear,
or if there are any problems. I'd like to complete work on this spec
in a week or two. Please comment on the MetaWeblog API mail list.

Dave

PS: I've turned on moderation for this list to keep the discussion to
the spec and technical and political issues that are not about
personalities. You are free of course to express those opinions, but
not on this mail list. Thanks.

Subject: New Message: metaWeblog.newImageSequence, OPML, etc.


> A new message was posted:
>
> Address: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/crimson1/discuss/msgReader$292
>
> By: Mauricio Tejada (mtejada@...)
>
>
>
> I have taken a look at the Blogger API, I and intend to add support for
performing basic posts to a weblog. After a set of photos is uploaded, a
"Post to blog" button will use the Blogger API to generate an entry in the
weblog containing the title of the photo set, their description and an
optional thumbnail out of the set.
>
> The current version of the software uploads an OPML file along with the
photos. This file can be used on the server side to do more things with the
photos that have been uploaded. Here is an example:
>
> Photos:
> http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/mtpsoft/limon/sample/hanamisakuradai/ [1]
> OPML file:
>
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/mtpsoft/limon/sample/hanamisakuradai/photos.o
pml.xml [2]
>
> I *really* like the ideas exposed in your metaWeblog.newImageSequence, and
after I digest this information (and this API is finalized), I think it will
be a good idea to support it.
>
> [1] http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/mtpsoft/limon/sample/hanamisakuradai/
> [2]
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/mtpsoft/limon/sample/hanamisakuradai/photos.o
pml.xml
>
>

Subject: New Message: Re: A new API for sequences of photos?


> A new message was posted:
>
> Address: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/crimson1/discuss/msgReader$290
>
> By: Mauricio Tejada (mtejada@...)
>
>
>
> I am working on a freeware program to upload photos to a personal website:
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/mtpsoft/limon/ [1]
>
> When I first tried Manila a few years ago, I was impressed by its
simplicity. That simplicity was part of the inspiration for creating this
program. The purpose of this program is to upload your photos without too
many clumbersome steps.
>
> You are welcome to try it if you wish. This program compresses and uploads
photos to a personal website. At the moment, all you need is a basic
knowledge of FTP to set up the program the first time it is run. In the near
future, there will also be a "Post to blog" button for use with Radio and
other blogs.
>
> [1] http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/mtpsoft/limon/
>
>

Good point. I did it that way because I make lots of GIFs and JPEGs myself and I
have code that can determine the height and width of those. But no reason to
limit it. I'll make the change and allow the caller to supply height and width.
Dave
   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Brent Simmons
   To: MetaWeblog-API@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Friday, May 16, 2003 12:43 PM
   Subject: [MetaWeblog-API] Image sequence API


   My first thought was that it would be more flexible and more consistent
   with the spec if, instead of just images, it worked with any type of
   media object.

   You'd have metaWeblog.newMediaObjectSequence and
   metaWeblog.addMediaObjectToSequence.

   -Brent


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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

<delurk>

On Friday, May 16, 2003, at 8:45 AM, Dave Winer wrote:
> But there's certainly no requirement that every call in the API be
> that way [smz: an element of an RSS 2.0  <item>.] I guess that's the
> answer to the question you're asking.

I realize that this was a pre-RFC, but I think Roger brings up a good
point.  It sounds to me like as a matter of policy, new methods should
include commentary on how they are related to, or represented by, RSS
2.0 elements or extensions.

</delurk>

--smz

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- Dave Winer <dave@...> wrote:
> Thanks for the explanation. In the future it would be good to provide
> the background with the question.

I knew what he was getting at right off.

> Actually the connection to RSS 2.0 wasn't initially part of the
> design of the MetaWeblog API, there was a moment when I realized that
> what I was designing was basically a re-invention of the RSS 2.0
> <item> so I decided to see if it would work to just use RSS 2.0 to
> define the struct, and happily, it did.
>
> But there's certainly no requirement that every call in the API be
> that way. I guess that's the answer to the question you're asking.

Goodie, than we can have the User Management calls that Rogers
Cadenhead proposed?  ;-)

Lance

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Thanks for the explanation. In the future it would be good to provide the
background with the question.

Actually the connection to RSS 2.0 wasn't initially part of the design of the
MetaWeblog API, there was a moment when I realized that what I was designing was
basically a re-invention of the RSS 2.0 <item> so I decided to see if it would
work to just use RSS 2.0 to define the struct, and happily, it did.

But there's certainly no requirement that every call in the API be that way. I
guess that's the answer to the question you're asking.

Dave
   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Roger Benningfield
   To: MetaWeblog-API@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Friday, May 16, 2003 11:33 AM
   Subject: [MetaWeblog-API] Re: Pre-RFC: An API for sequences of photos


   --- In MetaWeblog-API@yahoogroups.com, "Dave Winer" <dave@u...>
   wrote:
   > Is this a question or a comment? -- either way, please elaborate
   or clarify. Thanks.

   Dave,

   Answer: A question and a comment.

   Clarification: It seems to me that the existing MW API is focused
   (whether by design or happy accident) on manipulating things that
   can end up in an RSS 2.0 feed. The xxxPost() methods look to RSS for
   the members of their structs... getCategories() retrieves
   information that will end up inside a <category> element... even
   newMediaObject() ties in to <enclosure>.

   So IMO, that suggests a rule of thumb for additions to the API. Will
   this new method manipulate data that can be directly expressed in
   RSS 2.0? If not, then it probably belongs in a different API. Image
   sequences amount to another of those things that I think might be a
   nifty idea, just not necessarily a natural fit for the API in
   question.

   Of course, someone could come up with an RSS extension for image
   sequences, short-circuiting my argument:

   <item>
      blah blah
      <somenamespace:imagesequence>
         <somenamespace:image href="http://foo.com/bar.gif" />
      </somenamespace:imagesequence>
   </item>

   I still don't think it would be a particularly good idea for the MW
   API, but it would make more sense to me at that point.

   --
   Roger Benningfield


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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

My first thought was that it would be more flexible and more consistent
with the spec if, instead of just images, it worked with any type of
media object.

You'd have metaWeblog.newMediaObjectSequence and
metaWeblog.addMediaObjectToSequence.

-Brent

--- In MetaWeblog-API@yahoogroups.com, "Dave Winer" <dave@u...>
wrote:
> Is this a question or a comment? -- either way, please elaborate
or clarify. Thanks.

Dave,

Answer: A question and a comment.

Clarification: It seems to me that the existing MW API is focused
(whether by design or happy accident) on manipulating things that
can end up in an RSS 2.0 feed. The xxxPost() methods look to RSS for
the members of their structs... getCategories() retrieves
information that will end up inside a <category> element... even
newMediaObject() ties in to <enclosure>.

So IMO, that suggests a rule of thumb for additions to the API. Will
this new method manipulate data that can be directly expressed in
RSS 2.0? If not, then it probably belongs in a different API. Image
sequences amount to another of those things that I think might be a
nifty idea, just not necessarily a natural fit for the API in
question.

Of course, someone could come up with an RSS extension for image
sequences, short-circuiting my argument:

<item>
    blah blah
    <somenamespace:imagesequence>
       <somenamespace:image href="http://foo.com/bar.gif" />
    </somenamespace:imagesequence>
</item>

I still don't think it would be a particularly good idea for the MW
API, but it would make more sense to me at that point.

--
Roger Benningfield