WorldWideWeb:ProposalforaHyperText

Project
To:
P.G.Innocenti/ECP,G.Kellner/ECP,D.O.Williams/CN
Cc:
R.Brun/CN,K.Gieselmann/ECP,R.Jones/ECP,T.Osborne/CN,P.Palazzi/ECP,N.
Pellow/CN,B.Pollermann/CN,E.M.Rimmer/ECP
From:
T.BernersLee/CN,R.Cailliau/ECP
Date:
12November1990
TheattacheddocumentdescribesinmoredetailaHypertextproject.
HyperTextisawaytolinkandaccessinformationofvariouskindsasawebofnodesinwhichtheuser
canbrowseatwill.Itprovidesasingleuserinterfacetolargeclassesofinformation(reports,notes,
databases,computerdocumentationandonlinehelp).Weproposeasimpleschemeincorporating
serversalreadyavailableatCERN.
Theprojecthastwophases:firstlywemakeuseofexistingsoftwareandhardwareaswellas
implementingsimplebrowsersfortheuser'sworkstations,basedonananalysisoftherequirementsfor
informationaccessneedsbyexperiments.Secondly,weextendtheapplicationareabyalsoallowing
theuserstoaddnewmaterial.
Phaseoneshouldtake3monthswiththefullmanpowercomplement,phasetwoafurther3months,but
thisphaseismoreopenended,andareviewofneedsandwisheswillbeincorporatedintoit.
Themanpowerrequiredis4softwareengineersandaprogrammer,(oneofwhichcouldbeaFellow).
Eachpersonworksonaspecificpart(eg.specificplatformsupport).
Eachpersonwillrequireastateoftheartworkstation,buttheremustbeoneofeachofthesupported
types.Thesewillcostfrom10to20keach,totalling50k.Inaddition,wewouldliketouse
commerciallyavailablesoftwareasmuchaspossible,andforeseeanexpenseof30kduring
developmentforoneuserlicences,visitstoexistinginstallationsandconsultancy.
Wewillassumethattheprojectcanrelyonsomecomputingsupportatnocost:developmentfilespace
onexistingdevelopmentsystems,installationandsystemmanagersupportfordaemonsoftware.
T.BernersLeeR.Cailliau

WorldWideWeb:
ProposalforaHyperTextProject
T.BernersLee/CN,R.Cailliau/ECP

Abstract:
HyperTextisawaytolinkandaccessinformationofvariouskindsasawebofnodesinwhichtheuser
canbrowseatwill.Potentially,HyperTextprovidesasingleuserinterfacetomanylargeclassesof
storedinformationsuchasreports,notes,databases,computerdocumentationandonlinesystems
help.Weproposetheimplementationofasimpleschemetoincorporateseveraldifferentserversof
machinestoredinformationalreadyavailableatCERN,includingananalysisoftherequirementsfor
informationaccessneedsbyexperiments.

Introduction
Thecurrentincompatibilitiesoftheplatformsandtoolsmakeitimpossibletoaccessexisting
informationthroughacommoninterface,leadingtowasteoftime,frustrationandobsoleteanswersto
simpledatalookup.Thereisapotentiallargebenefitfromtheintegrationofavarietyofsystemsina
waywhichallowsausertofollowlinkspointingfromonepieceofinformationtoanotherone.This
formingofawebofinformationnodesratherthanahierarchicaltreeoranorderedlististhebasic
conceptbehindHyperText.
AtCERN,avarietyofdataisalreadyavailable:reports,experimentdata,personneldata,electronic
mailaddresslists,computerdocumentation,experimentdocumentation,andmanyothersetsofdataare
spinningaroundoncomputerdiscscontinuously.Itishoweverimpossibleto"jump"fromonesetto
anotherinanautomaticway:onceyoufoundoutthatthenameofJoeBloggsislistedinanincomplete
descriptionofsomeonlinesoftware,itisnotstraightforwardtofindhiscurrentelectronicmail
address.Usually,youwillhavetouseadifferentlookupmethodonadifferentcomputerwitha
differentuserinterface.Onceyouhavelocatedinformation,itishardtokeepalinktoitortomakea
privatenoteaboutitthatyouwilllaterbeabletofindquickly.

Hypertextconcepts
Theprinciplesofhypertext,andtheirapplicabilitytotheCERNenvironment,arediscussedmorefully
in[1],aglossaryoftechnicaltermsisgivenin[2].Herewegiveashortpresentationofhypertext.
Aprogramwhichprovidesaccesstothehypertextworldwecallabrowser.Whenstartingahypertext
browseronyourworkstation,youwillfirstbepresentedwithahypertextpagewhichispersonaltoyou
:yourpersonalnotes,ifyoulike.Ahypertextpagehaspiecesoftextwhichrefertoothertexts.Such
referencesarehighlightedandcanbeselectedwithamouse(ondumbterminals,theywouldappearin
anumberedlistandselectionwouldbedonebyenteringanumber).Whenyouselectareference,the
browserpresentsyouwiththetextwhichisreferenced:youhavemadethebrowserfollowahypertext
link:
(seeFig.1:hypertextlinks).
Thattextitselfhaslinkstoothertextsandsoon.Infig.1,clickingontheGHIwouldtakeyoutothe
minutesofthatmeeting.ThereyouwouldgetinterestedinthediscussionoftheUPS,andclickonthe
highlightedwordUPStofindoutmoreaboutit.
Thetextsarelinkedtogetherinawaythatonecangofromoneconcepttoanothertofindthe
informationonewants.Thenetworkoflinksiscalledaweb.Thewebneednotbehierarchical,and
thereforeitisnotnecessaryto"climbupatree"allthewayagainbeforeyoucangodowntoadifferent
butrelatedsubject.Thewebisalsonotcomplete,sinceitishardtoimaginethatallthepossiblelinks
wouldbeputinbyauthors.Yetasmallnumberoflinksisusuallysufficientforgettingfromanywhere
toanywhereelseinasmallnumberofhops.
Thetextsareknownasnodes.Theprocessofproceedingfromnodetonodeiscallednavigation.
Nodesdonotneedtobeonthesamemachine:linksmaypointacrossmachineboundaries.Havinga
worldwidewebimpliessomesolutionsmustbefoundforproblemssuchasdifferentaccessprotocols
anddifferentnodecontentformats.Theseissuesareaddressedbyourproposal.
Nodescaninprinciplealsocontainnontextinformationsuchasdiagrams,pictures,sound,animation
etc.Thetermhypermediaissimplytheexpansionofthehypertextideatotheseothermedia.Where
facilitiesalreadyexist,weaimtoallowgraphicsinterchange,butinthisproject,weconcentrateonthe
universalreadershipfortext,ratherthanongraphics.

Applications

Theapplicationofauniversalhypertextsystem,onceinplace,willcovermanyareassuchasdocument
registration,onlinehelp,projectdocumentation,newsschemesandsoon.Itwouldbeinappropriate
forus(ratherthanthoseresponsible)tosuggestspecificareas,butexperimentonlinehelp,accelerator
onlinehelp,assistanceforcomputercenteroperators,andthedisseminationofinformationbycentral
servicessuchastheuserofficeandCNandECPdivisionsareobviouscandidates.WorldWideWeb(or
W3)intendstocaterfortheseservicesacrosstheHEPcommunity.

Scope:ObjectivesandnonObjectives
Theprojectwilloperateinacertainwelldefinedsubsetofthesubjectareaoftenassociatedwiththe
"Hypertext"tag.Itwillaim:
toprovideacommon(simple)protocolforrequestinghumanreadableinformationstoredata
remotesystem,usingnetworks
toprovideaprotocolwithinwhichinformationcanautomaticallybeexchangedinaformat
commontothesupplierandtheconsumer
toprovidesomemethodofreadingatleasttext(ifnotgraphics)usingalargeproportionofthe
computerscreensinuseatCERN
toprovideandmaintainatleastonecollectionofdocuments,intowhichusersmay(butarenot
boundto)puttheirdocuments.Thiscollectionwillincludemuchexistingdata.(Thisispartlyto
giveusfirsthandexperienceofuseofthesystem,andpartlybecausemembersoftheprojectwill
alreadyhavedocumentationforwhichtheyareresponsible)
toprovideakeywordsearchoption,inadditiontonavigationbyfollowingreferences,usingany
neworexistingindexes(suchastheCERNVMFINDindexes).Theresultofakeywordsearchis
simplyahypertextdocumentconsistingofalistofreferencestonodeswhichmatchthe
keywords.toallowprivateindividuallymanagedcollectionsofdocumentstobelinkedtothose
inothercollections.tousepublicdomainsoftwarewhereverpossible,orinterfacetoproprietary
systemswhichalreadyexist.
toprovidethesoftwarefortheabovefreeofchargetoanyone.

Theprojectwillnotaim
toprovideconversionswheretheydonotexistbetweenthemanydocumentstorageformatsat
CERN,althoughprovidingaframeworkintowhichsuchconversionutilitiescanfit
toforceuserstouseanyparticularwordprocessor,ormarkupformat
todoresearchintofancymultimediafacilitiessuchassoundandvideo
tousesophisticatednetworkauthorisationsystems.datawillbeeitherreadablebytheworld
(literally),orwillbereadableonlyononefilesystem,inwhichcasethefilesystem'sprotection
systemwillbeusedforprivacy.Allnetworktrafficwillbepublic.

RequirementsAnalysis
Inordertoensureresponsetorealneeds,arequirementsanalysisfortheinformationaccessneedsofa
largeCERNexperimentwillbeconductedattheverystart,inparallelwiththefirstprojectphase.
ThisanalysiswillatfirstbelimitedtotheactivitiesofthemembersoftheAlephexperiment,andlater
beextendedtoatleastoneotherexperiment.Anoverviewwillbemadeoftheinformationgeneration,
storageandretrieval,independentoftheform(machine,paper)andindependentofthefinality
(experiment,administration).
Theresultshouldbe:
listsofsources,depotsandsinksofinformation,
listsofformats,
diagramsofflow,
statisticsontraffic,

estimatedlevelsofimportanceofflows,
listsofclientdesiresand/orsuggestedimprovements,
estimatedlevelsofsatisfactionwithplatforms,
estimatedurgencyforimprovements.
Thisanalysiswillitselfnotproposesolutionsorimprovements,butitsresultswillguidetheproject.

Architecture
Thearchitectureofthehypertextworldisoneofdatastoredonservermachines,andclientprocesses
onthesameorothermachines.Themachinesarelinkedbysomenetwork(fig.2).Fig.2:proposed
modelforthehypertextworldAworkstationiseitheranindependentmachineinyourofficeora
terminalconnectedtoaclosebycomputer,andconnectedtothesamenetwork.Theserversareactive
processesthatreplytorequests.Thehypertextdataisexplicitlyaccessibletothem.Serverscanbe
manyonthesamecomputersystem,buttheneachcaterstoaspecifichypertextbase.Clientsare
browserprocesses,usuallybutnotnecessarilyonadifferentcomputersystem.Informationpassedisof
twokinds:nodesandlinks.

Buildingblocks
Browsersandserversarethetwobuildingblockstobeprovided.

Abrowser
isanativeapplicationprogramrunningontheclientmachine:
itperformsthedisplayofahypertextnodeusingtheclienthardware&softwareenvironment.
Forexample,aMacintoshbrowserwillusetheMacintoshinterfacelookandfeel.
itperformsthetraversaloflinks.Forexample,whenusingaMacintoshtobrowseonCERNVM
FINDitwillbetheMacintoshbrowserwhichrememberswhichlinksweretraversed,howtogo
backetc.,whereastheCERNVMserverjustrespondsbyhandingthebrowsernodes,andhasno
ideaofwhichnodestheuserhasvisited.
itperformsthenegotiationofformatsindialogwiththeserver.Forexample,abrowserfora
VT100typedisplaywillalwaysnegotiateASCIItextonly,whereasaMacintoshbrowsermight
beconstructedtoacceptPostScriptorSGML.

Aserver
isanativeapplicationprogramrunningontheservermachine:
itmanagesawebofnodesonthatmachine.
itnegotiatesthepresentationformatwiththebrowser,performingonthefly(orcached)
conversionsfromitsowninternalformat,ifany..

Operation
AlinkisspecifiedasanASCIIstringfromwhichthebrowsercandeduceasuitablemethodof
contactinganappropriateserver.Whenalinkisfollowed,thebrowseraddressestherequestforthe
nodetotheserver.Theserverthereforehasnothingtoknowaboutotherserversorotherwebsandcan
bekeptsimple.
Oncetheserverhaslocatedtherequestednode,itwillknowfromthenodecontentswhatthenode's
formatis(eg.pureASCII,markedup,wordprocessorstorageandwhichwordprocessoretc.).The
serverthenbeginsanegotiationwiththebrowser,inwhichtheydecidebetweenthemwhatformatis
acceptablefordisplayontheuser'sscreen.Thisnegotiationwillbebasedonlyonexistingconversion

programsandformats:itisnotinthescopeofW3towritenewconverters.Thelastresortinthe
negotiationisthebinarytransferofthenodecontentstoafileintheuser'sfilespace.Negotiatingthe
formatforpresentationisparticulartoW3.

Projectphases
Providedwithresourcesmentionedbelow,weforeseethefirsttwophasesoftheprojectasachieving
thefollowinggoals:

Phase1Target:3monthsfromstart
BrowsersondumbterminaltoopenreadershiptoanyonewithacomputerorPC.(?)
Browsersonvt220terminalstogivecursororientedreadershiptoaverylargeproportionof
readersAbrowserontheMacintoshintheMacintoshstyleAbrowserontheNeXTusingthe
NeXTSteptools,asafastprototypeforideasinhumaninterfacedesignandnavigation
techniques.
AserverprovidingaccesstotheworldofUsenet/Internetnewsarticles.*
AserverprovidingaccesstoalltheinformationcurrentlystoredonCERNVMandmentionedin
theFINDindex.ThisshouldincludeCERNprogramlibrarynotes,IBMandCERNCMShelp
screens,CERN/CNwriteups,ComputerNewsletterarticles,etc.
Aserverwhichmaybeinstalledonanymachinetoallowfilesonthatmachinetobeaccessedas
hypertext.
Theabilityforuserstowrite,usingmarkuptags,theirownhypertextforhelpfiles.Noother
hypertexteditingcapabilitywillnecessarilybeimplementedinthisphase.
AgatewayprocesstoallowaccessbetweentheInternetandDECnetprotocolworlds.
Asetofguidelinesonhowtomanageahypertextserver.
Arequirementsanalysisoftheinformationaccessneedsforalargeexperiment.
Atthisstage,readershipisuniversal,butthecreationofnewmaterialreliesonexistingsystems.For
example,theintroductionofnewmaterialfortheFINDindex,orthepostingofnewsarticleswilluse
thesameproceduresasatpresent.wegainusefulexperienceintherepresentationofexistingdatain
hypertextform,andinthetypesofnavigationalandotheraidsappreciatedbyusersinhighenergy
physics.

Phase2Target:6monthsfromstart
Inthisimportantphase,weaimtoallow
Thecreationofnewlinksandnewmaterialbyreaders.Atthisstage,authorshipbecomes
universal.
AfullscreenbrowseronVM/XAforthoseusingCERNVM,andotherHEPVMsites
AnXwindowbrowser/editor,givingthesophisticatedfacilitiesoriginallyprototypedunder
NeXTSteptothewideXbasedcommunity.(WeimagineusingOSF/Motifsubjectto
availability)
Theautomaticnotificationofareaderwhennewmaterialofinteresttohim/herhasbecome
available.Thisisessentialfornewsarticles,butisveryusefulforanyothermaterial.
Theabilityofreaderstocreatelinksallowsannotationbyusersofexistingdata,allowstoadd
themselvesandtheirdocumentstolists(mailinglists,indexes,etc).Itshouldbepossibleforusersto
linkpublicdocumentsto(forexample)bugreports,bugfixes,andotherdocumentswhichtheauthors
themselvesmightneverhaverealisedexisted.Thisphaseallowscollaborativeauthorship.Itprovidesa
placetoputanypieceofinformationsuchthatitcanlaterbefound.Makingiteasytochangetheweb
isthusthekeytoavoidingobsoleteinformation.Oneshouldbeabletotracethesourceofinformation,
tocircumventandthentorepairflawsintheweb.

Resourcesrequired
1.People
Thefollowingfunctionsareidentifiable.Theydonotnecessarilycorrespondtoindividualsonaoneto
onebasis.Theinitialsinbracketsindicatepeoplewhohavealreadyexpressedaninterestintheproject
andwhohavethenecessaryskillsbutdonotindicateanycommitmentasyetonthierpartorthepartof
theirmanagers.Weareofcourseveryopentoinvolvementfromothers.
Systemarchitect.Coordinatedevelopment,protocoldefinition,etcensuresintegrityofdesign.
(50%TBL?)Marketresearchandproductplanner.Discusstheprojectanditsfeatureswith
potentialandactualusersinalldivisions.Preparecriteriaforfeatureselectionanddevelopment
priority.(50%RC?)
HyperLibrarian.Overseesthewebofavailabledata,ensuringitscoherency.Interfacewithusers,
trainusers.Managesindexesandkeywordsystems.Managesdataprovidedbytheprojectitself.
(100%KG?)
Softwareengineer:NeXTStep.Providebrowser/editorinterfaceundertheNeXTStephuman
interfacetools.Experimentwithnavigationalaids.KeeparunningknowledgeoftheNeXTStep
world.(50%TBL?)
Softwareengineer:Xwindowsandhumaninterface.Providebrowser/editorhumaninterface
underOSF/Motif.Respondtousersuggestionforeaseofuseimprovementsandoptions.Create
anaesthetic,practicalhumaninterface.KeeparunningknowledgeoftheXworld.(75%RJ?)
Softwareengineer:IBMmainframe.ProvidebrowserserviceonCERNVMandotherHEPVM
sites.MaintaintheFINDserversoftware.KeepuparunningknowledgeoftheCMS,Rexx
world.(75%BP?)
Softwareengineer:Macintosh.Providebrowser/editorforthemac,usingwhatevertoolsare
appropriate(ThnkC,HyperCard,etc?).(50%RC?)
Softwareengineer:C.Helpwritecodefordumbterminalorvt100browsers,andportable
browsercodetobesharedbetweenbrowers.Thiscouldincludeatechnicalstudentproject.
(100%NP?+A.N.Other?)
Weforeseethatademandmayariseforbrowsersonspecificsystems,forspecificcustomizations,and
forserverstomakespecificexistingdataavailableonlineashypertext.Weintendtoenthusiastically
supportsuchwideningoftheweb.Ofcourse,wemayhavetodrawonmoremanpowerandspecific
expertiseinthesecases.

2.Otherresources
Wewillrequirethefollowingsupportinthewayofequipmentandservices.
Wefeelitisimportantforthoseinvolvedintheprojecttobeabletoworkclosetoeachotherand
exchangeideasandproblemsastheywork.Anofficeareaorclosegroupofofficesistherefore
required.
Eachpersonworkingontheprojectwillrequireastateoftheartworkstation.Experienceshows
thataworkstationhastobeupgradedinsomewayeverytwoyearsorsoassoftwarebecomes
morecumbersome,andmemory/speedrequirementsincrease.This,andthecostofsoftware
upgrades,weforeseeasreasonableexpenses.Weimagineusingavarietyoftypesofworkstation
asweprovidesoftwareonavarietyofmachines,butotherwiseNeXTs.ForVMSmachines,we
wouldlikethesupportofanexistingVAXclustertominimizeourownsystemmanagement
overheads.
Wewouldliketobeabletopurchaselicensesforcommercialhypertextsoftwarewherewefeel
thiscouldbeincorporatedintotheproject,andsavedevelopmentandmaintenancetime,or
wherewefeelwecouldgainusefulexperiencefromitsuse.(Approximateexamplesare:Guide
license:CHF750KMSfullauthorlicenseCHF1500,evaluationkitCHF100.FrameMaker:
CHF2000)

Wewillrequirecomputingsupport.Inparticular,wewillrequireareliablebackedupNFS(or
equivalent)fileserversupportforourdevelopmentenvironment.Wewillalsoneedtorun
daemonsoftwareonmachineswithInternet,DECnetandBITNETconnectivity,whichwill
requireacertainamountofsupportfromoperatorsandsystemmanagers.

Futurepaths
Thetwophasesabovewillprovideanextremelyusefulsetoftools.Thoughtheresultsseem
ambitious,theindividualstepsnecessaryarewellwithinourabilitieswithavailabletechnology.
Futuredevelopmentswhichwouldfurtherenhancetheprojectcouldinclude:
Daemonprogramswhichrunovernightandbuildindexesofavailableinformation.
Aserverautomaticallyprovidingahypertextviewofa(forexampleOracle)database,froma
descriptionofthedatabaseandadescription(forexampleinSQL)oftheviewrequired.
Workonefficientnetworkingoverwideareas,negotiationwithothersitestoprovidecompatible
onlineinformation.
Aseriousstudyoftheuseandabuseofthesystem,thesociologyofitsuseatCERN.

References
[1]
T.BernersLee/CN,HyperTextandCERN.Anexplanationofhypertext,andwhyitisimportant
forCERN.Abackgrounddocumentexplainingtheideasbehindthisproject.
[2]
T.BernersLee/CN,HypertextDesignIssues.Adetailedlookathypertextmodelsandfacilities,
withadiscussionofchoicestobemadeinchoosingorimplementingasystem.
[3]
Otherdocumentationontheprojectisstoredinhypertextformandwhichleadstofurther
references.