relying on ordering of sibling XML elements

[Glen Mazza <glenmazza@yahoo.com>]

Hello,

Question - does "proper" XML document design permit
deriving a semantic meaning from the ordering of XML
sibling elements?

For example, if I want to have books A, B, C, D on a
bookshelf in a certain order:  from left-right: D, A,
C, B.

relying on order of elements:

<bookshelf>
    <book>d</book>
    <book>a</book>
    <book>c</book>
    <book>b</book>
</bookshelf>

Or is it more correct to add an attribute, like
"position" below:

<bookshelf>
    <book position="1">d</book>
    <book position="2">a</book>
    <book position="3">c</book>
    <book position="4">b</book>
</bookshelf>

The first option looks like poor design, but then I
remember creating XML lists of countries, states,
etc., in alphabetical order (for subsequent rendering
in an HTML page, etc.) without worrying about adding a
"rank" or "order" attribute.

Thanks,
Glen

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