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Appendix

This appendix lists details of the NZGLS elements used in the example above. For each element you will find the its required syntax, and its default values should you not specify them.

5.1 <nzgls:date.valid> (Required)

This element is used to define a date (and time) range for when this item is valid. Date ranges should follow the DCMI Period specification for defining the start and end dates.

This element is required, but at a minimum, it is sufficient to only specify the start date. Please note that the default end date and time is 7 days from the start date at 23:59 local time. An item with a start date in the future, but with no end date will also get an end date of 7 days from the start date (rounded up till 23:59).

A date should always be expressed as YYYY-MM-DD at a minimum. The time (if specified) must always be expressed as HH:MM:SS+12:00. The +12:00 is needed in New Zealand because the W3C specifies that the time will always be in UTC unless the time offset is also included.

A fully specified date and time is therefore defined as: 

YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS+1200

Please note that the separating 'T' between the date and time is required when specifying a date and time. Some example values for date and time are:

2002-10-15
2002-10-15T11:25:00+12:00

See http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-datetime for further information about date and time formatting, and see http://dublincore.org/documents/2000/07/28/dcmi-period/ for more detailed information about using DCMI-Period.

Syntax: <nzgls:date.valid>start={DATE}; end={DATE}</nzgls:date.valid>

Requirement: Required

Required Attribute(s): none

Default: See description above.

Examples: 

<nzgls:date.valid>2002-10-07</nzgls:date.valid>
<nzgls:date.valid>start=2002-10-07</nzgls:date.valid>
<nzgls:date.valid>start=2002-10-07; end=2002-11-12</nzgls:date.valid>
<nzgls:date.valid>start=2002-10-07; end=2002-11-12T19:00:00+12:00</nzgls:date.valid>
<nzgls:date.valid>
start=2002-10-07T09:00:00+12:00; end=2002-11-12T19:00:00+12:00
</nzgls:date.valid>

5.2 <nzgls:coverage.spatial> (Optional)

This element is used to define the spatial location for a given item, and will be used for the regionalisation of content delivery. There is no standard for the encoding of this information as yet, but it is envisaged that the aggregator will separate content into broad regions, for example Canterbury, Hawke's Bay and Wellington.

A data set that fits this requirement is the land districts list of the New Zealand Geographic Placenames Database (published by LINZ and based on the New Zealand 260 series topographic maps).

This element is optional; any item without this element will be assumed to be valid for the entire country. This element may be upto 128 characters long. If an item is valid for multiple regions, then each region should be listed separated by commas.

Syntax: <nzgls:coverage.spatial>{REGION NAME}</nzgls:coverage.spatial>

Requirement: Optional

Required Attribute(s): none

Examples: 

<nzgls:coverage.spatial>Wellington</nzgls:coverage.spatial>
<nzgls:coverage.spatial>Canterbury, Wellington</nzgls:coverage.spatial>

5.3 <nzgls:identifier> (Required)

This element is used to define a unique identifier for each record. This element is required; any item without this element will be ignored.

The aggregator detects duplicates and updates to previously published news items using the unique identifier. A news item may have changed entirely, but as long as the identifier remains valid, it can be successfully updated.

The identifier can be made up of upto 64 characters, from the set [0-9a-zA-Z-+]. The identifier must consist of an YYYYMMDD date, followed by a four-digit sequence number and an abbreviated agency name, all seperated by hyphens.

By preference, the date should be the date that the item was published, but this is not mandatory. The sequence number is simply to ensure uniqueness. It should continue increasing until it reaches 9999, at which point it should roll over to 0000. Once again, this is not mandatory, but helps to ensure identifier uniqueness.

The identifier must remain the same for all instances of the same item; otherwise the item in question may be published multiple times.

Syntax: <nzgls:identifier>{IDENTIFIER}</nzgls:identifier>

Requirement: Required

Required Attribute(s): none

Examples: 

<nzgls:identifier>20021015-0001-SSC</nzgls:identifier>
<nzgls:identifier>20021015-0002-SSC</nzgls:identifier>
<nzgls:identifier>20021016-0003-SSC</nzgls:identifier>

5.4 <nzgls:type.agency> (Required)

This element is used to define the Agency who published this item. This element is required; any item without this element will be ignored. This element may be upto 128 characters long.

This is a required element, even though it is highly likely that all the items within a single feed will contain the same information in this element. This element is required so that an aggregated output feed will contain the correct values for this element.

Syntax: <nzgls:type.agency>{AGENCY NAME}</nzgls:type.agency>

Requirement: Required

Required Attribute(s): none

Examples: 

<nzgls:type.agency>State Services Commission</nzgls:type.agency>

5.5 <nzgls:type.document> (Optional)

This element is used to define the type of this particular item. This element is optional; any item without this element will be assumed to be of type "News".

The type must be one of:

  • News

  • Consulting

Syntax: <nzgls:type.document>{TYPE}</nzgls:type.document>

Requirement: Optional

Required Attribute(s): none


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