Link Hint

Name

http://lynx-json.org/link

Meaning

A link hint describes a value that represents a hyperlink.

Related Hints

None

Synonyms

None

Format Rules

If the value is present, it must comply with the following rules:

• MUST be an object.
• MUST have an href property for remote content or a data property for inline content.
• MAY have a rel property whose value specifies the relationship between the document containing the link and the destination resource, as described in RFC 5988.
• MAY have a follow property whose value must be a positive number representing the number of milliseconds the user agent should wait before following the link on behalf of the user.
• MAY contain other properties.

href present

If the value has an href property:

• href MUST be a valid URI.
• MAY have a type property whose value must be a valid media type name to indicate the expected media type of the content.
• MUST NOT have data or encoding properties.

data present

If the value has a data property:

• MUST have a type property whose value must be a valid media type name to indicate the media type of the content encoded in the data property.
• if type is application/json or a variant of application/json, data MAY be an object or an array; otherwise, data MUST be a string representing the content to be embedded.
• if data is a string, MAY have an encoding property whose value MUST be utf-8 or base64. If not present, encoding is utf-8.
• MUST NOT have an href property.

Examples

href present

{
  "title": "Fletch",
  "href": "http://www.example.com/movies/fletch",
  "spec": {
    "hints": [ "link" ],
    "children": [
        {
            "name": "title",
            "hints": [ "label", "text" ]
        }
    ]
  }
}

data present

UTF-8 String

{
  "data": "# Review of Fletch\n##Pros\n\nToo many to list.\n##Cons\n\nNone!",
  "type": "text/markdown",
  "spec": {
    "hints": [ "link" ]
  }
}

Base64 String

{
  "data": "WW91IHRhbGtpbmcgdG8gbWU/IC0tIFRheGkgRHJpdmVy",
  "encoding": "base64",
  "type": "text/plain",
  "spec": {
    "hints": [ "link" ]
  }
}

JSON Content

{
  "data": {
    "base": "http://example.com/",
    "realm": "http://example.com/movie-quotes/",
    "value": [
      "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night. -- Bette Davis, All About Eve",
      "I'll have what she's having. -- Estelle Reiner, When Harry Met Sally",
      "Plastics. -- Walter Brooke, The Graduate"
    ],
    "spec": {
      "hints": [ "list", "container" ],
      "children": {
        "hints": [ "text" ]
      }
    }
  },
  "type": "application/lynx+json",
  "spec": {
    "hints": [ "link" ]
  }
}

Authoring Rules

None

User Agent Rules

• The user agent MUST provide the user with a control to interact with the hyperlink in order to follow it.
• If href is present, when the user follows the hyperlink, then the user agent MUST fetch the target identified by the href using the default retrieval action for the protocol (e.g. GET for HTTP).
• If href is present, the user agent SHOULD display or make the href accessible to the user so he/she can consider its value prior to following the hyperlink.
• If the link contains a follow property, the user agent MUST wait the specified number of milliseconds and then MUST follow the hyperlink.

User Agent Considerations

• The user agent must anticipate that a value described by a link hint may not contain visible content.
• The user agent must anticipate that a value described by a link hint may contain other properties that are also described by a specification.