xml-dev - Re: Questions on DCD

[rbourret@dvs1.informatik.tu-darmstadt.de (Ron Bourret)]

Dean Roddey wrote:

> I made a proposal related to the whole type validation mechanism, which really
> extends beyond DCD but would address a lot of its issues as well as allow for
> much more extensibility. I'd like to post it here for comment (with some
> internal information removed) in order to perhaps bash it out as a general 
type
> validation mechanism. However, right not its in a Notes database and if I post
> it here its going to look so horrible that it will probably be unreadable.

While I like this proposal and think there is a definite need for it, I would 
rather see it as an addition to, rather than a replacement of, a simple data 
type attribute.

This is not a technical issue, merely a usability one.  It has simply been my 
experience that explaining what a function is to non-technical or moderately 
technical people is very difficult; explaining what a data type is, is not.

Furthermore, I suspect that 80-90% of the data typing needs in a document can be 
met by a subset of the DCD data types. I am therefore reluctant to get rid of 
such a simple method, especially since data type attributes would be easily 
reusable outside of schema files:

<MyIntegerElementInFileWithNoSchemaOrDTD DCD:dt="int">10</...>

I also lean toward Curt Arnold's feeling that the functions should be written in 
XML.  Certainly there are enough IDL/RPC/etc.-in-XML type proposals floating 
around that there would be no need to reinvent the wheel here.  Might even be 
able to reuse some code...

-- Ron Bourret

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