This work is derived from concepts introduced by Tim Berners-Lee and the World-Wide Web global information initiative. Relative URLs are described as "Partial URLs" in RFC 1630 [1]. That description was expanded for inclusion as an appendix for an early draft of RFC 1738, "Uniform Resource Locators (URL)" [2]. However, after further discussion, the URI-WG decided to specify Relative URLs separately from the primary URL draft.
This document is intended to fulfill the recommendations for Internet Resource Locators as stated in [6]. It has benefited greatly from the comments of all those participating in the URI-WG. Particular thanks go to Larry Masinter, Michael A. Dolan, Guido van Rossum, Dave Kristol, David Robinson, and Brad Barber for identifying problems/deficiencies in earlier drafts.