RE: MSXML Features (WAS RE: Steve Ballmer is cracking up)

["Bullard, Claude L (Len)" <clbullar@ingr.com>]

Thanks.  I have it.  I use it as a structural reference. 
The issue is documented but unimplemented or buggy 
features.  It is to be expected given the timeliness 
of the recommendation and the difficulty of the 
implementation.

Eventually, I have downloaded a beta of one of 
the Schema IDEs and am using that for final 
parsing to check the schema design.  BTW, it 
doesn't implement UNIQUE either but it says 
so in the manual.   MSXML 4.0 is for the manly 
who like to work in PFE.  I usually do that but.... 

Getting an instance to parse against a schema is easy. 
Getting the schema instance to parse against 
the schema schema takes more work.  The short 
cut is the beta.  The problem was on the first 
pass, whatever it didn't like, it threw away. 
It ate about half of a schema I was working 
on.  Luckily, I don't feed master copies to 
beta software.  Word to the wise who are testing 
those IDEs out there: they really are betas.

XML Schemas are hard.  That is a fact.  OTOH, 
not so hard one can't learn them but even as 
an ancient pointy-bracket man, this is one time 
I heartily suggest serious designers find a good 
Schema design tool/IDE and use it.   Where time 
is money and accuracy is critical because of 
distribution, these IDEs will be big money and 
face savers.

For the HumanML schemas, we will probably push every button in 
the XML Schema repetoire because it is a massive 
job, requires a schema toolkit (eg, lots of 
complexTypes abstract="true"), and derived 
schemas before one gets to the first instance. 
So, anyone who wants to test validators, give 
us a few weeks to get more of it done and we 
can make these available as test guineas.

Markup design has become software design for real. 
Technical writers and marketing editors need not apply.

Len 
http://www.mp3.com/LenBullard

Ekam sat.h, Vipraah bahudhaa vadanti.
Daamyata. Datta. Dayadhvam.h


-----Original Message-----
From: Culshaw, James [mailto:james.culshaw@intel.com]

Microsoft have produced a downloadable SDK which gives you all the
documentation around the parser which is very good on the MSDN site.