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

[Marcus Carr <mrc@allette.com.au>]

Jonathan Borden wrote:

> > Adding xml:id will invalidate those documents.
>
> Right, but there is no need to add xml:id to documents which are associated
> with a DTD, the entire reason for existence is those XML documents without a
> DTD. So yes, you can shoot yourself in the head, but doing so is not
> recommended :-)

Almost every XML document conforms to a DTD. DTDs are used to define structures
- whether every document is validated and/or when it is validated is another
issue.

Making a change to a DTD is often making a change to a system definition.
Requiring some number of attributes to be added to a DTD is changing the system
definition. A responsible system designer will need to track this change through
their application - who's going to pay for it? Given the choice of doing the
risk assessment, implementing and then re-evaluating the system or doing nothing
and not supporting xml:id, what do you suppose they'll choose?


--
Regards,

Marcus Carr                      email:  mrc@allette.com.au
___________________________________________________________________
Allette Systems (Australia)      www:    http://www.allette.com.au
___________________________________________________________________
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
       - Einstein