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In my experience API-level support is an order (or two) of magnitude more expensive than delivering UI apps. First of all, the testing costs are much higher. Second (and way more significant), once we realease an API, we will have to support it for 10 years or so - and this is extremely expensive.
________________________________
From: Rick Jelliffe [mailto:rjelliffe@allette.com.au]
Sent: Fri 6/30/2006 1:12 AM
To: xml-dev@lists.xml.org
Subject: Re: [xml-dev] Restrictions on existence of attributes?
Michael Champion wrote:
> As far as I can tell, the masses of developers aren't clamoring for
> RELAX NG because they don't use any schema language except via some
> tool, and the tools don't support it. Even if they did the schema
> files would just be some semi-opaque stuff in a project directory, not
> anything most developers would care much about the syntax of. I also
> used to think that was cynical FUD from the tool vendors, but, ahem,
> nobody is making much money off tools these days but customer support
> costs bazillions. I guarantee you that upper management would insist
> that we support RELAX NG if anyone could make the case that it really
> would reduce support costs but reduce XML tools revenue. That would be
> a very easy tradeoff to make.
Another approach would be the agnostic, incremental approach.
Support XSD with tools and marketing, but supply API-level support of
RELAX NG, Schematron and other DSDL languages as they come along, even
if this just entails adopting an Open Source implementation. (And
encourage the XSD WG and ISO in rapproachment and cooperation and
against NIH-ism.)
That requires a tiny investment, and the slimmest of business cases,
surely. You know that people regularly have to have resort to
Schematron. You don't have to build it into Visual Studio or Office,
just into .NET and IE. They may would enhance the value of the MS API
platform and increase the chances that your API users have of success;
whether enough traction developers for MS to supply tools for them is
another matter.
Cheers
Rick Jelliffe
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