Re: Can XPointers be used as a name (was Re: RDDL for names ?(was Re:XMLSchema built-in data typenamespaceURI.))

[Jonathan Borden <jborden@mediaone.net>]

Eric van der Vlist wrote:

Jonathan Borden wrote:
>>
>> An XPointer can be used as either a name or an address depending on the
>> form. The raw name form is a name, the child sequence form is an address
and
>> the full form may combine characteristics of both. e.g.

>I am not contesting the fact that, generally speaking, a XPointer can be
>used as a name, but the fact that I don't want to assign to my user
>defined datatypes a name that depends on the location of my schema file
>and thus that in this case a XPointer is not convenient.

This is where RDDL and/or Entity Catalogs come in.

Firstly RDDL being bound to the namespace URI, allows the schema file(s) to
be located wherever.

Catalogs with proper resolution software can redirect namespace URIs to
local or otherwise located RDDL documents.

>> <xsd:simpleType name="unsignedInt" id="unsignedInt">..
>>
>> http://www.w3.org/2000/10/XMLSchema#unsignedInt  is a perfectly good name
>> (IMHO)
>>
>> .../xsd:simpleType[@name='unsignedInt'] is also an fine name (IMHO)

>Yes I have no problem with these ones, but I consider
>
>file:yourSchema.xsd#myUnsignedInt
>
>or even
>
>http://example.org/yourSchema.xsd#myUnsignedInt
>
>as bad names since they depend on the actual physical location of the
>schema file.

This depends purely on your choice of a namespace URI. The issue at hand is
that XML Schema types depend on QNames which of course are namespace
qualified, and the crux of my argument is that a QName is shorthand for a
URI. Of course if you pick a poor QName you will get an equally poor URI.

The bottom line is that if you generally expect namespace URIs to resolve to
something, as I do, that you ought equally expect QNames in this namespace
to resolve to something -- and in particular something that is 'contained'
in this namespace. Since a namespace name is a URI, logically a QName ought
to be considered contained in the hierarchy of this URI.

-Jonathan