Hi VOTablers,
I'll confess that I have not actually read the WD "VOTable Format Definition v1.09" start to finish; however, my previous post about COOSYS brings up a relevent point for this document. As my comment reveals, the prose document does not define the format to the same level of detail as the XSD file. I therefore recommend that we establish a close coupling between the standard document and the schema.
That is, we should (as you did in the 1.0 version) include the Schema and/or the DTD as an appendix to the document. Then in the document (perhaps in section 1.3), we should say that when using the XML Schema approach (marked by the use of xmlns attributes), this is the schema that defines a compatible VOTable; when the DTD approach is used, this is the DTD that defines a compatible VOTable. Because of the greater ability to constrain syntax with Schema, the XSD file should be considered the more definitive standard for syntax. Even when an application is using the DTD to validate, the application should assume the stricter constraints defined in the XSD.
Finally, I may have mentioned this one about the namespace. I think it would be appropriate to base the namespace URI on www.ivoa.net. In particular, I recommend we follow the convention used with the resource metadata schemas, and use "http://www.ivoa.net/xml/VOTable/v1.1".
cheers,
Ray
Received on 2004-05-20Z23:38:00