SV: [xml-dev] What constitutes an XML document?

["Jens Jakob Andersen, PDI" <jens.jakob.andersen@post.dk>]

Hi Paul

This is an interesting question.

A XML document can have 2 formal states:

1. Wellformed
2. Valid

The Wellformed document is what you describe below, and the Valid
document needs a DTD.

So I say that the answer is, a Wellformed document is a syntactically
correct XML document according to the XML spec, and if you have such a
one, you have a XML document (Wellformed, not Valid).

Best regards

JJ

> If I am asked to produce an XML document and I come up with 
> something that 
> LOOKS like XML markup - syntactically correct tags, attributes, etc.
> 
> BUT
> 
> I do not supply a DTD or a schema, and I refuse to supply a 
> DTD or a schema 
> (because I have actually created the document without 
> designing/creating a 
> DTD or a schema)
> 
> THEN
> 
> I understand that the document cannot be validated - but what 
> I need to know 
> is: Is what I have produced actually XML at all, or is it 
> just a document 
> formatted to look like XML?
>