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John Cowan wrote:
> Amelia A. Lewis scripsit:
> > First principle: the XML ur-type is "string". Everything in XML can be
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> > represented as a string (MUST be representable as a string). It can
> > therefore be manipulated as a string--truncated, concatenated,
> > case-transformed, etc.
>
> No, I have to disagree here. Every datatype instance can be *represented*
> by a string, right enough. That does not mean the instance of that type
> *is* a string.
But the _XML_ ur-type is string. From the application
point of view, you might have dates, integers, IEEE double
precision floating point numbers, et cetera, but as far
as XML is concerned everything is a string.
If we're talking about a rational type system _for XML_,
then Amelia's first principle is eminently sensible. In fact,
I'd go even further and say it's the _only_ sensible foundation
for an XML type system.
--Joe English
jenglish@flightlab.com
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