In computing, a CURIE (or Compact URI) defines a generic, abbreviated syntax for expressing Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). It is an abbreviated URI expressed in a compact syntax, and may be found in both XML and non-XML grammars. A CURIE may be considered a datatype.
An example of CURIE syntax: [isbn:0393315703]
The square brackets may be used to prevent ambiguities between CURIEs and regular URIs, yielding so-called safe CURIEs.
QNames (the namespace prefixes used in XML) often are used as a CURIE, and may be considered a type of CURIE. CURIEs, as defined by the W3C, will be better defined and may include checking. Unlike QNames, the part of a CURIE after the colon does not need to conform to the rules for XML element names.
The first W3C Working Draft of CURIE syntax was released 7 March 2007.
The final recommendation was released 16 January 2009.
Example
This example is based on one from the W3C Working Draft 7 March 2007, using a QName syntax within XHTML.
<html xmlns:wikipedia="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/"> <head>...</head> <body> <p> Find out more about <a href="[wikipedia:Biome]">biomes</a>. </p> </body> </html>