RE: [xml-dev] XML Design Guidelines for Facilitating theCreation and Pro

["Cox, Bruce" <Bruce.Cox@USPTO.GOV>]

The US Patent & Trademark Office processes about 15,000 XML documents a
week, most of which include CALS table markup and many of which include
MathML markup.  I expect many scientific journals publish documents that
include tables and math and chemistry (multiple choices there, we use
ChemDraw).  Not your usual web fare, but very real.

We don't do XML Schema yet, and we only "compound" with
industry-standard DTD's that we have agreed to in advance.  "We" meaning
the delegates to WIPO's Standards and Documentation Working Group's Task
Forces on various WIPO Standards for industrial property information.

Bruce B Cox
Manager, Standards Development Division
USPTO/OCIO/SDMG
571-272-9004

-----Original Message-----
From: Len [mailto:cbullard@hiwaay.net] 
Sent: Friday, March 06, 2009 5:59 PM
To: 'Costello, Roger L.'; xml-dev@lists.xml.org
Subject: RE: [xml-dev] XML Design Guidelines for Facilitating the
Creation and Processing of Compound Documents

The best advice I have comes from Dr. Charles Goldfarb:  Conserve nouns.

It's a challenge of resolution over reference space complexity. 

Even if processed, humans use the output.  As in behavioral programming
(interactive document design vs compounding), program back from the end
states of the uses of the document.   

Are the uses the reason for compounding?  IOW, is the compounding a
result
of interactive screen design or printed forms?

Why compounds?

len


From: Costello, Roger L. [mailto:costello@mitre.org] 


Hi Folks,

What guidelines would you recommend to someone who: 

   - wants to create an XML vocabulary, 

   - that will be combined with other XML vocabularies to create a
compound
instance document, 

   - which will be processed by applications?

In other words, what XML designs will facilitate the creation and
processing
of compound documents?

Below is a list of guidelines that I have come up with. Are there other
guidelines that you recommend?  


----------------------------------------------
   GUIDELINES FOR FACILITATING THE
      CREATION AND PROCESSING
       OF COMPOUND DOCUMENTS
---------------------------------------------- 

Namespaces are key to creating compound documents that can be
effectively
processed. Applications can partition compound documents along the lines
identified by namespaces, thus enabling module-specific processing.


1. When designing a schema, associate the XML vocabulary it creates with
a
namespace. Thus the first guideline is to identify each XML vocabulary
via a
namespace. Here's an example of a Book XML vocabulary identified by the
http://www.book.org namespace: 


    <Book xmlns="http://www.book.org";>
         <Title>Illusions</Title>
         <Author>Richard Bach</Author>
         <Date>1977</Date>
         <ISBN>0-440-34319-4</ISBN>
         <Publisher>Dell Publishing Co.</Publisher>
    </Book>

Conversely, do not identify the XML vocabulary by embedding a unique
identifier inside an element or attribute. Here's an example of the Book
XML
vocabulary identified using a GUID embedded inside an element: 

    <Book>
         <Identifier>fc48ee30-0a6b-11de-8c30-0800200c9a66</Identifier>
         <Title>Illusions</Title>
         <Author>Richard Bach</Author>
         <Date>1977</Date>
         <ISBN>0-440-34319-4</ISBN>
         <Publisher>Dell Publishing Co.</Publisher>
    </Book>


2. If the schema language used to create the XML vocabulary provides the
option of namespace-qualifying all elements or namespace-qualifying only
global elements, choose the former. For example, the W3C XML Schema
language
allows you to specify "all elements must be qualified in the instance
document" by setting:

    elementFormDefault="qualified"

Conversely, it allows you to specify "only qualify globally declared
elements in the instance document" by setting:

    elementFormDefault="unqualified"

Don't use the latter as it destroys the value of namespaces. Instead,
use
the former as it maximizes the value of namespaces.


3. Use standard filename suffixes: .xsd (W3C XML Schema), .rng (ISO
RELAX
NG), .sch (ISO Schematron), .dtd (W3C DTD). Although it is technically
accurate to, say, suffix an XML Schema file with .xml, it is preferable
to
use .xsd as the latter enables applications to more easily recognize an
XML
vocabulary's schema language.


4. Design your schema maximizing the use of globally declared elements.
Each
globally declared component is a potential compound document component.
For
example, with this schema both BookStore and Book can be used as a
component
in a compound document:

    <element name="BookStore">
        <complexType>
            <element ref="Book" maxOccurs="unbounded" />
        </complexType>
    </element>

    <element name="Book"> ... </element>

Conversely, this schema only allows BookStore to be used as a component
in a
compound document: 

    <element name="BookStore">
        <complexType>
            <element name="Book" maxOccurs="unbounded"> ... </element>
        </complexType>
    </element>


What else would you add to this list?

/Roger
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