RE: [xml-dev] What to escape when serializing XML

["Michael Kay" <mike@saxonica.com>]

> 
> If the attribute type is not CDATA, then the XML processor 
> MUST further process the normalized attribute value by 
> discarding any leading and trailing space (#x20) characters, 
> and by replacing sequences of space (#x20) characters by a 
> single space (#x20) character.

I think there's a reasonable expectation (and certainly the QT serialization
spec assumes it) that if there's a DTD or schema that causes whitespace to
be condensed in this way, that's because there's no semantic difference
between different whitespace sequences, and that therefore it's OK for the
serializer to assume that any whitespace sequence will do.

This is different from the normalization of CDATA attributes, which happens
whether you ask for it or not.

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/