RE: [xml-dev] 'is-a' Relationships in XML?

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

> But clearly the markup can need more explanation via semantic 
> definitions or specifications than would be needed by 
> straight prose statements. E.g. I can lie by stating that I 
> own Buckingham Palace. That implies Stephen D Green owns 
> Buckingham Palace and this is not true. 

There's a big mental leap here. Defining the semantics of a fragment like 

<person name="SG">
  <owns-property name="Buckingham Palace"/>
</person>

tells you how to interpret this fragment as an assertion about things in the
real world; this has very little bearing on whether the assertion is true or
false. XBRL tells you how to submit your company accounts, and it tells me
how to read them; but it doesn't stop those accounts being a fabrication.

Regards,

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