Re: [xml-dev] Include data that may be objectively generated some day?

[Dimitre Novatchev <dnovatchev@gmail.com>]

> Since the XML documents contain enlightenment-capability data application developers figure "Hey, let's use it."  So, suppose applications (today) start making decisions based on the data in the  <Enlightenment-Capability> element. What will be the consequence?
>
> More generally, what will be the consequence of adding this element to the Book XML vocabulary?
>

Should be no consequence at all, unless the new
<Enlightenment-Capability> element has any meaningful values.

Let's not forget that defining the value-space as well as the meaning
of each possible value, is an integral part of the type definition.

Leaving "no value" or the "default value" (as null or string.Empty, or
0 in many programming languages) should be handled successfully with a
"default action" -- most probably "ignore".



-- 
Cheers,
Dimitre Novatchev
---------------------------------------
Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence.
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To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk
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Never fight an inanimate object
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To avoid situations in which you might make mistakes may be the
biggest mistake of all
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Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.
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You've achieved success in your field when you don't know whether what
you're doing is work or play
-------------------------------------
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
-------------------------------------
I finally figured out the only reason to be alive is to enjoy it.




On Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 5:44 AM, Costello, Roger L. <costello@mitre.org> wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
> Is it good or bad to include, in an XML document, data that is currently not objectively generated but may be in the future?
>
> Please allow me to explain.
>
> Example: Below is information about a book. Suppose that today's applications effectively process its markup and data:
>
> <Book>
>      <Title>_________</Title>
>      <Author>_________</Author>
>      <Date>_________</Date>
>      <ISBN>_________</ISBN>
>      <Publisher>_________</Publisher>
> </Book>
>
> Now, consider the problem of determining how "enlightening" a book is. Assume that there are no objective rules for determining the enlightenment-capability of a book. Manual determination of the enlightenment-capability of a book is subjective and yields mixed results. Thus, automating the determination of the enlightenment-capability of a book is problematic.
>
> Nonetheless, the developers of the Book XML vocabulary decide that someday it may be possible to objectively measure the enlightenment-capability of a book and applications will make decisions based on enlightenment-capability data. So they decide (today) to require that each book contain an <Enlightenment-Capability> element:
>
> <Book>
>      <Enlightenment-Capability>__________</Enlightenment-Capability>
>      <Title>_________</Title>
>      <Author>_________</Author>
>      <Date>_________</Date>
>      <ISBN>_________</ISBN>
>      <Publisher>_________</Publisher>
> </Book>
>
> Since the XML documents contain enlightenment-capability data application developers figure "Hey, let's use it."  So, suppose applications (today) start making decisions based on the data in the  <Enlightenment-Capability> element. What will be the consequence?
>
> More generally, what will be the consequence of adding this element to the Book XML vocabulary?
>
> /Roger
>
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