Glossary · Selectors

iiRDS Selector

Also known as: selector

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), a Selector points to a part of a file, so that an information unit can refer to a section of a rendition instead of the whole file. Selector itself is abstract: in practice a FragmentSelector or a RangeSelector is used.

iiRDS term
Ontology
Information architecture

In one sentence

An iiRDS Selector points to part of a rendition file, such as a page range in a PDF; only its subclasses FragmentSelector and RangeSelector are used.

Example

A 200-page PDF manual contains the maintenance chapter on pages 45 to 60. A selector on the PDF rendition lets that chapter be delivered as its own topic, without splitting the file.

In-depth wiki articleiiRDS Selector: FragmentSelector and RangeSelector for parts of files

How it applies

Migration: Selectors make legacy PDFs granular without rewriting them. Each chapter or procedure becomes its own information unit with metadata, while the original file stays untouched.
Safety: A selector can address the safety chapter inside a large manual directly, so a portal can link to it from a machine’s error message.
AI and retrieval: Selectors give exact anchors. An assistant can cite and deep-link the right pages instead of pointing to a whole manual.

Rules from the specification

A selector is attached to a Rendition with iirds:has-selector. Only the subclasses may be used. The restricted profile iiRDS/H does not allow selectors at all.

Selector vs. Fragment

A Fragment is an information unit with its own IRI and metadata. A selector is only a pointer into a file — it has no metadata of its own.

In RDF

Shown in Turtle for readability — inside a package, metadata.rdf is written in RDF/XML.

@prefix iirds: <http://iirds.tekom.de/iirds#> .
@prefix rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#> .
@prefix dcterms: <http://purl.org/dc/terms/> .

<https://example.com/iirds/maintenance-chapter> a iirds:Topic ;
    iirds:has-rendition [
        a iirds:Rendition ;
        iirds:format "application/pdf" ;
        iirds:source "content/operating-manual.pdf" ;
        iirds:has-selector [
            a iirds:FragmentSelector ;
            dcterms:conformsTo <http://tools.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3778> ;
            rdf:value "page=45"
        ]
    ] .