URI

Uniform Resource Identifier. A compact string of characters for identifying an abstract or physical resource. A URI is either a URL or a URN. URLs and URNs are concrete entities that actually exist; A URI is an abstract superclass.

A character string used to identify a resource (such as a file) from anywhere on the Internet by type and location. The set of Uniform Resource Identifiers includes both Uniform Resource Names (URNs) and Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).

Internet space is inhabited by many points of content. A URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) is the way you identify any of those points of content, whether it be a page of text, a video or sound clip, a still or animated image, or a program. The most common form of URI is the Web page address, which is a particular form or subset of URI called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). A URI typically describes:

• The mechanism used to access the resource
• The specific computer that the resource is housed in
• The specific name of the resource (a file name) on the computer