Re: [xml-dev] Just nodes please

[David Carlisle <davidc@nag.co.uk>]

On 06/12/2010 16:44, Manos Batsis wrote:
> On a sidenote, it would be great if
>
> <node1 node2="node3" />
>
> was equal to
>
> <node1>
> <node2>node3</node2>
> </node1>
>
> so that APIs could be simplified

Such a rule would make it impossible to have the behaviour common in 
many document formats (notably xhtml) that by default child elements are 
processed but unknown attributes are ignored. That model is pervasive 
throughout XML, for instance in the string-value of XPath, the string 
value of your first example is "" the string value of your second is 
"\nnode3\n" so these can never be equal without completely rewriting 
XPath.  Of course specific API for specific vocabulary may choose to 
treat attributes an elements in similar ways, but the core processing 
could never do that and retain any semblance of being a version of XML.

David

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