XEP-0195: User Browsing

Abstract
This document defines an XMPP protocol extension for communicating information about the web pages a user visits.
Author
Peter Saint-Andre
Copyright
© 2006 – 2008 XMPP Standards Foundation. SEE LEGAL NOTICES.
Status

Deferred

WARNING: This document has been automatically Deferred after 12 months of inactivity in its previous Experimental state. Implementation of the protocol described herein is not recommended for production systems. However, exploratory implementations are encouraged to resume the standards process.
Type
Standards Track
Version
0.3 (2008-09-25)
Document Lifecycle
  1. Experimental
  2. Deferred
  3. Proposed
  4. Stable
  5. Final

1. Introduction

Publish-Subscribe (XEP-0060) [1] and Personal Eventing Protocol (XEP-0163) [2] can be used to publish a wide variety of "extended presence" information about users. This document specifies an extended presence payload format that communicates information about the web pages a user visits. This information may be of interest to a user's contacts and can also be used in social networking applications (e.g., co-browsing and web swarms).

2. Protocol

2.1 Container Element and Child Elements

Information about web pages is provided by the user (or automated integration with browsers or other systems) and is propagated on the network by the user's client. The information container for web page data is a <page/> element that is qualified by the 'urn:xmpp:browsing:0' namespace (see Protocol Namespaces regarding issuance of one or more permanent namespaces). The web page information itself is provided as the XML character data of the following children of the <page/> element:

Table 1: Child Elements
Element Description Example Datatype Inclusion
description The value of the "description" META tag The weblog of Peter Saint-Andre xs:string OPTIONAL
keywords The value of the "keywords" META tag stpeter, Peter Saint-Andre, weblog, jabber, xmpp xs:string OPTIONAL
title The value of the <title/> element one small voice xs:string OPTIONAL
uri The URI of the page (usually but not necessarily an HTTP URL) https://stpeter.im/ xs:anyURI REQUIRED

NOTE: The datatypes specified above are defined in XML Schema Part 2 [3].

2.2 Transport Mechanism

When a user visits a web page, its client may publish that fact to a PEP node whose NodeID is "urn:xmpp:browsing:0" (see Protocol Namespaces regarding issuance of one or more permanent namespaces) or to a generic pubsub node. Because browsing information is not pure presence information and can change independently of the user's availability, it SHOULD NOT be provided as an extension to the <presence/> stanza type.

Example 1. User Publishes Browsing Information
<iq type='set' from='stpeter@jabber.org/work' id='browsing1'>
  <pubsub xmlns='http://jabber.org/protocol/pubsub'>
    <publish node='urn:xmpp:browsing:0'>
      <item id='da6abe63d1e5ed45a6de466732abff72e6fccb93'>
        <page xmlns='urn:xmpp:browsing:0'>
          <uri>https://stpeter.im/</uri>
        </page>
      </item>
    </publish>
  </pubsub>
</iq>

The browsing information is then delivered to all subscribers:

Example 2. Browsing Information is Delivered to All Subscribers
<message from='stpeter@jabber.org' to='maineboy@jabber.org'>
  <event xmlns='http://jabber.org/protocol/pubsub#event'>
    <items node='urn:xmpp:browsing:0'>
      <item id='da6abe63d1e5ed45a6de466732abff72e6fccb93'>
        <page xmlns='urn:xmpp:browsing:0'>
          <uri>https://stpeter.im/</uri>
        </page>
      </item>
    </items>
  </event>
</message>

When the user stops browsing the page (e.g., by closing the browser window or tab), the user's client SHOULD send an empty <page/> element with the same ItemID:

Example 3. User Publishes Stop Information
<iq type='set' from='stpeter@jabber.org/work' id='browsing2'>
  <pubsub xmlns='http://jabber.org/protocol/pubsub'>
    <publish node='urn:xmpp:browsing:0'>
      <item id='da6abe63d1e5ed45a6de466732abff72e6fccb93'>
        <page xmlns='urn:xmpp:browsing:0'/>
      </item>
    </publish>
  </pubsub>
</iq>
Example 4. Stop Information is Delivered to All Subscribers
<message from='stpeter@jabber.org' to='maineboy@jabber.org'>
  <event xmlns='http://jabber.org/protocol/pubsub#event'>
    <items node='urn:xmpp:browsing:0'>
      <item id='da6abe63d1e5ed45a6de466732abff72e6fccb93'>
        <page xmlns='urn:xmpp:browsing:0'/>
      </item>
    </items>
  </event>
</message>

3. Security Considerations

The web pages that a user visits may be sensitive. A client MUST provide a way for a user to configure which pages or types of pages will not be published (e.g., via user preferences).

4. IANA Considerations

This document requires no interaction with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) [4].

5. XMPP Registrar Considerations

5.1 Protocol Namespaces

This specification defines the following XML namespace:

Upon advancement of this specification from a status of Experimental to a status of Draft, the XMPP Registrar [5] shall add the foregoing namespace to the registry located at <https://xmpp.org/registrar/namespaces.html>, as described in Section 4 of XMPP Registrar Function (XEP-0053) [6].

5.2 Namespace Versioning

If the protocol defined in this specification undergoes a revision that is not fully backwards-compatible with an older version, the XMPP Registrar shall increment the protocol version number found at the end of the XML namespaces defined herein, as described in Section 4 of XEP-0053.

6. XML Schema

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>

<xs:schema
    xmlns:xs='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema'
    targetNamespace='urn:xmpp:browsing:0'
    xmlns='urn:xmpp:browsing:0'
    elementFormDefault='qualified'>

  <xs:element name='page'>
    <xs:complexType>
      <xs:sequence minOccurs='0'>
        <xs:element name='description' type='xs:string' minOccurs='0'/>
        <xs:element name='keywords' type='xs:string' minOccurs='0'/>
        <xs:element name='title' type='xs:string' minOccurs='0'/>
        <xs:element name='uri' type='xs:anyURI'/>
      </xs:sequence>
    </xs:complexType>
  </xs:element>

</xs:schema>

Appendices

Appendix A: Document Information

Series
XEP
Number
0195
Publisher
XMPP Standards Foundation
Status
Deferred
Type
Standards Track
Version
0.3
Last Updated
2008-09-25
Approving Body
XMPP Council
Dependencies
XMPP Core, XMPP IM, XEP-0060, XEP-0163
Supersedes
None
Superseded By
None
Short Name
NOT_YET_ASSIGNED
Source Control
HTML

This document in other formats: XML  PDF

Appendix B: Author Information

Peter Saint-Andre
Email
stpeter@stpeter.im
JabberID
stpeter@jabber.org
URI
https://stpeter.im/

Copyright

This XMPP Extension Protocol is copyright © 1999 – 2024 by the XMPP Standards Foundation (XSF).

Permissions

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this specification (the "Specification"), to make use of the Specification without restriction, including without limitation the rights to implement the Specification in a software program, deploy the Specification in a network service, and copy, modify, merge, publish, translate, distribute, sublicense, or sell copies of the Specification, and to permit persons to whom the Specification is furnished to do so, subject to the condition that the foregoing copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Specification. Unless separate permission is granted, modified works that are redistributed shall not contain misleading information regarding the authors, title, number, or publisher of the Specification, and shall not claim endorsement of the modified works by the authors, any organization or project to which the authors belong, or the XMPP Standards Foundation.

Disclaimer of Warranty

## NOTE WELL: This Specification is provided on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, express or implied, including, without limitation, any warranties or conditions of TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. ##

Limitation of Liability

In no event and under no legal theory, whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise, unless required by applicable law (such as deliberate and grossly negligent acts) or agreed to in writing, shall the XMPP Standards Foundation or any author of this Specification be liable for damages, including any direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising from, out of, or in connection with the Specification or the implementation, deployment, or other use of the Specification (including but not limited to damages for loss of goodwill, work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all other commercial damages or losses), even if the XMPP Standards Foundation or such author has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

IPR Conformance

This XMPP Extension Protocol has been contributed in full conformance with the XSF's Intellectual Property Rights Policy (a copy of which can be found at <https://xmpp.org/about/xsf/ipr-policy> or obtained by writing to XMPP Standards Foundation, P.O. Box 787, Parker, CO 80134 USA).

Visual Presentation

The HTML representation (you are looking at) is maintained by the XSF. It is based on the YAML CSS Framework, which is licensed under the terms of the CC-BY-SA 2.0 license.

Appendix D: Relation to XMPP

The Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) is defined in the XMPP Core (RFC 6120) and XMPP IM (RFC 6121) specifications contributed by the XMPP Standards Foundation to the Internet Standards Process, which is managed by the Internet Engineering Task Force in accordance with RFC 2026. Any protocol defined in this document has been developed outside the Internet Standards Process and is to be understood as an extension to XMPP rather than as an evolution, development, or modification of XMPP itself.

Appendix E: Discussion Venue

The primary venue for discussion of XMPP Extension Protocols is the <standards@xmpp.org> discussion list.

Discussion on other xmpp.org discussion lists might also be appropriate; see <https://xmpp.org/community/> for a complete list.

Errata can be sent to <editor@xmpp.org>.

Appendix F: Requirements Conformance

The following requirements keywords as used in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119: "MUST", "SHALL", "REQUIRED"; "MUST NOT", "SHALL NOT"; "SHOULD", "RECOMMENDED"; "SHOULD NOT", "NOT RECOMMENDED"; "MAY", "OPTIONAL".

Appendix G: Notes

1. XEP-0060: Publish-Subscribe <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0060.html>.

2. XEP-0163: Personal Eventing Protocol <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0163.html>.

3. XML Schema Part 2: Datatypes <http://www.w3.org/TR/xmlschema11-2/>.

4. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is the central coordinator for the assignment of unique parameter values for Internet protocols, such as port numbers and URI schemes. For further information, see <http://www.iana.org/>.

5. The XMPP Registrar maintains a list of reserved protocol namespaces as well as registries of parameters used in the context of XMPP extension protocols approved by the XMPP Standards Foundation. For further information, see <https://xmpp.org/registrar/>.

6. XEP-0053: XMPP Registrar Function <https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0053.html>.

Appendix H: Revision History

Note: Older versions of this specification might be available at https://xmpp.org/extensions/attic/

  1. Version 0.3 (2008-09-25)

    Modified namespace in accordance with protocol versioning policies.

    psa
  2. Version 0.2 (2007-10-03)

    Updated in accordance with XEP-0163.

    psa
  3. Version 0.1 (2006-08-30)

    Initial version.

    psa
  4. Version 0.0.1 (2006-08-28)

    First draft.

    psa

Appendix I: Bib(La)TeX Entry

@report{saint-andre2006xep0195,
  title = {User Browsing},
  author = {Saint-Andre, Peter},
  type = {XEP},
  number = {0195},
  version = {0.3},
  institution = {XMPP Standards Foundation},
  url = {https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0195.html},
  date = {2006-08-28/2008-09-25},
}

END