Re: [xml-dev] Re: determining ID-ness in XML

[Jonathan Borden <jborden@mediaone.net>]

Having an xml:id attribute is a terrific idea which is the best solution to
an otherwise nasty problem.

Since "xml:id" is already reserved, there is no chance of conflicting with
currently available software. I don't see much reason to need to update DTDs
because if you already _have_ a DTD then you can define ID attributes. The
problem exists for well formed but DTD-less XML documents for which one
needs to use the raw XPointer #foo.

Jonathan


> >So, adding a new xmlid attribute has downsides either way:- you either
need
> >to update your DTDs or you need to update your xml processors.  This is
true
> >even for those people and applications that have no interest in being
able
> >to address ID-less elements.
> >
>
> Any time you add a new attribute, you have to update your DTDs. This is
true of xml:id, xml:base, xml:space, and xml:lang. Nothing in this
discussion changes that. Nothing is special about xml:id.
>
> However, we are not saying that every application has to use xml:id.
Certainly not every application uses xml:space or xml:lang today, much less
xml:base. If the XHTML folks don't want xml:id in their XHTML documents,
they don't have to use it. They don't change their DTDs. In fact, they
really don't need to change them because conformant XHTML documents already
have a DTD, and do have ID type attributes.
>
> Remember, the reason we're having this discussion is because not all XML
documents have DTDs. It is precisely those without DTDs where xml:id is
needed, and these applications can start using xml:id  immediately because
they don't have a DTD to change! or even if they do, they don't require
validity.
>
> --
>
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