importuri

Importuri is a concept in some programming languages and data-processing systems that refers to importing resources identified by Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) into the current execution context. It provides a mechanism to fetch, resolve, and bind external definitions, data, or modules so they can be used by a program.

In typical use, importuri takes a URI string and returns a handle to the loaded resource, which may be a module, a data object, a schema, or another executable artifact. Implementations may support multiple URI schemes, such as http, https, file, data, or custom schemes defined by the environment. Depending on the system, importuri may perform network requests, read local files, or dereference embedded resources, and it may offer options for caching, versioning, and integrity verification.

Syntax and semantics vary by language or framework. In some contexts importuri is a built-in function, while in others it is exposed as a library call or a directive. Typical usage resembles a call or statement such as importuri("https://example.org/schema.json") or importuri("file:///path/to/module.xr"). Semantics often include idempotence (loading the same resource multiple times yields a consistent result), relative-URI resolution, and the handling of dependencies between imported resources.

Security and reliability considerations are important. Importing remote resources can introduce latency, exposure to network failures, or security risks if untrusted URIs are used. Environments may enforce scheme whitelists, sandboxing, authentication, or integrity checks to mitigate these concerns.

See also URIs, module import, data import, and resource dereferencing.