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

["Simon St.Laurent" <simonstl@simonstl.com>]

On Sat, 2001-11-10 at 17:45, Marcus Carr wrote:
> 3)  As DTDs are by far the most frequently used tool for the development
> of an XML dataset, is it fair to assume that most XML documents are
> valid at at least one point in their lives?

I tend to use DTDs as a scratchpad and for documentation.  I
occasionally use them for validation, but it's pretty rare in my case. 
(Most of the document structures I'm creating lately are rules files,
which aren't very complicated in any event, but I can definitely see the
usefulness of ID-based XPointers in operating with them.)

> Accepting that, does it
> follow that the addition of the xml:id attribute has the potential to
> impact on most XML documents in existence? (Every one that conforms to a
> DTD.)

I'd make xml:id something that can be used with or without a DTD.  If
used in a DTD, it would have to be declared of type ID and would have to
be the only ID on any given attribute.  That seems to avoid a lot of
pain to me.

-- 
Simon St.Laurent
"Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better." - Emile Coue