There is still my question how the non-element content of mixed content
elements can be constrained to be an integer, or string, or whatever
primitive type.
http://www.ivoa.net/forum/dm/0609/1169.htm
I'd say it is an important piece of info to help us make up our mind.
Anyway, if you want a vote, I'd say that for the serialisation of data and metadata in the IVOA:
No, we can not forbid empty elements with attributes.
Yes, we can (and should) forbid mixed content elements.
No, we can not insist on non-string data to be written as attributes (where did that come from).
I'm sure consistency can not be obtained, but we can try, to quote someone else
"The only completely consistent people are the dead." - A. Huxley
From: owner-dm-at-eso.org [mailto:owner-dm-at-eso.org] On Behalf Of Rob Seaman
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2006 5:57 PM
To: dm-at-ivoa.net
Cc: Alasdair Allan; Dobos, Laszlo; Gerard; Guy Rixon; Matthew Graham
Subject: Re: Problems about the Spectrum Data Model from the view of a Web
Service programmer
Matthew says:
there is nothing wrong with mixed content.
In fact, it is used elsewhere in the IVOA already [...]
we should be consistent right across the IVOA
Oooh! A good time to trot out an Emerson quote:
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds
There is an implicit proposal on the hypothetical table. It goes something like:
While mixed XML content is strictly legal, it is likely to
reveal limitations of tools and libraries adopted by IVOA.
As such, no IVOA Recommendations will permit XML
documents containing:
Further, there appears to be a suggestion that numbers must be written as attributes:
Why actually do we need that number right between the tags instead of in an attribute?
so also forbid:
If this is the proposal, I'll open the polling with a "no" vote.
Another word for "mixed" content is "flexible" content.
Rob Seaman
NOAO Received on 2006-09-15Z18:32:54