An internationalized resource identifier is a name for a resource that may contain characters from outside the basic Latin set. A web address, a namespace name, or an identifier in a data file can be written in the script its authors use. Systems that still require the older restricted form convert the characters before they compare or look the name up.
Data models such as the Resource Description Framework (RDF) use this wider form for the names of things. The identifier names the resource. The framework stores statements about it. The two are not the same object.
How the Wider Name Is Handled
- Written as people write. Letters beyond basic Latin stay visible in the identifier.
- Compared in a common form. Programs convert to a restricted encoding before they test equality.
- Still one name. The conversion does not create a second resource.
Wider Identifier and the Older Restricted Form
| Compared | The Wider Identifier | The Restricted Form |
| Characters allowed | Beyond basic Latin | A limited set |
| What a person sees | The original script | The converted encoding |
| Identity | The same resource | The same resource, after conversion |
