Re: CDATA sections in W3C XML Infoset

[John Cowan <cowan@mercury.ccil.org>]

Richard Lanyon scripsit:

> Could someone explain to me why CDATA section start/end markers were
> taken out of the W3C Infoset?

Essentially because we (but I am NOT speaking officially for the Core WG
here) don't think they carry any real information.  There is no difference
between CDATA sections and careful use of < and &.

> I was hoping to use the Infoset in writing the spec for XML Script,
> but the removal of these markers makes it very difficult to write an
> implementation of XML Script which is based around a DOM. Dealing with
> blocks of text which run across boundaries between text and CDATA
> section nodes is quite difficult. It is difficult enough when it
> comes to _selecting_ nodes using XPath. It is even more difficult when
> it comes to _setting_ node values (something that XML Script allows).

We are aware that DOM doesn't really match the Infoset.  It was either
do it DOM's way from the beginning or give up on DOM compatibility.
We chose the latter.

> Is there any chance that CDATA section start/end markers could be put
> back in?

If you want this, file a comment at www-xml-infoset-comments@w3.org.

-- 
John Cowan                                   cowan@ccil.org
One art/there is/no less/no more/All things/to do/with sparks/galore
	--Douglas Hofstadter