[OpenID] Extensions - required and optional attributes

[Jack]

Hi,

The 2.0 extension mechanism defines how namespaces are used to
distinguish the attributes of two different extensions, and how support
for diverse extensions can be advertised and discovered.

The SReg 1.1 spec defines "sreg.required" and "sreg.optional"
parameters, which identify the extension attributes the RP would like to
be given.

It seems to me that the business of requiring (or desiring) certain
extension attributes is not a matter exclusively of interest to SReg; an
RP might require or desire attributes from any extension, and the
meaning of "required" and "optional" would be the same whatever
extension we were talking about.

So should not ALL extensions be required to include parameters of the
form openid.<alias>.required and openid.<alias>.optional?

If this is not required, then it would remain open to any extension
developer to name these parameters as they see fit; with the result that
the core of the OpenID code, at both the RP and the OP, has to
incorporate specific code to support each supported extension.

I'm finding myself confused by my own code at the moment, which probably
means that I'm confused about the problem I'm trying to solve. But it
does feel as if things would be clearer if there were some additional
constraints on how an extension is to be used. So is there perhaps a
reason why the "required" and "optional" parameters were delegated to
the SReg spec, and not included in the core protocol?

-- 
Jack Cleaver.