xml-dev - RE: Use of Tags

["Jonathan Borden" <jborden@mediaone.net>]

Andrew Layman wrote:

> Regarding use of elements versus attributes, Andy Dent wrote "The
> path that
> Microsoft seem to be following with XML-Data is to use elements ... My
> single biggest problem with this is the reuse of elements within other
> elements - you can't define an element with local 'scope'. What
> happens when
> Amount is an i2 in one context and a float in another?"
>
> At http://www.w3.org/TandS/QL/QL98/pp/microsoft-serializing.html
> you'll find
> a description of a style of using XML in which attributes play a
> major role,
> specifically to avoid the problem you mention with local scope.
>
	This is all very reasonable. I think I'm missing something here in regard
to what you mean by the term 'local scope'. Would this problem be solved by
the use of the dt:dt attribute e.g.

	<Amount dt:dt="i2">34</Amount>

	<Amount dt:dt="float">34</Amount>

	In fact, this is my biggest problem with using attributes to hold property
values: how ought these values be themselves typed?

Jonathan Borden
http://jabr.ne.mediaone.net


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