Structure and Interpretation of URLs

A formal grammar for WWW Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) exists and provides a framework for extending the meanings of URLs beyond those used by the WWW project. In this section the syntax for DODS URLs is described (See Table ) and the differences between the WWW and DODS URLs are also discussed. This syntax is less formal than that presented in the CERN documentation, however, DODS servers must be able to parse this syntax. In the case where a DODS server forms an interface between other DODS components and a foreign system, the DODS server must first parse this syntax and then translate the parsed expression into the foreign system's syntax.