Re: [xml-dev] XML spec: Why is colon ':' a NameStartChar?

["Tony Graham" <tgraham@mentea.net>]

On Tue, December 3, 2013 8:41 am, Hermann Stamm-Wilbrandt wrote:
> Why is colon ':' a NameStartChar [A]?

Because it is.

> It produces XML parsing error.

Arguably, it produces a 'Namespaces in XML' [1] namespace-validity error.

> I found nothing in the errata [B], what am I missing?

That your XML processor supports both XML 1.0 and Namespace in XML 1.0 (or
1.1 and 1.1)?

Section 2.3, Common Syntactic Constructs, [2] of XML 1.0 includes this note:

   The Namespaces in XML Recommendation [XML Names]
   assigns a meaning to names containing colon characters.
   Therefore, authors should not use the colon in XML
   names except for namespace purposes, but XML
   processors must accept the colon as a name character.

and Namspaces in XML 1.0 includes this definition [3]:

   [Definition: A namespace-well-formed document is
   namespace-valid if it is valid according to the
   XML 1.0 specification, and all tokens other than
   element and attribute names which are REQUIRED,
   for XML 1.0 validity, to match the XML production
   for Name match this specification's production for
   NCName. ]

where NCName [4] is:

[4] NCName ::= Name - (Char* ':' Char*)
	/* An XML Name, minus the ":" */

Regards,


Tony Graham                                   tgraham@mentea.net
Consultant                                 http://www.mentea.net
Mentea       13 Kelly's Bay Beach, Skerries, Co. Dublin, Ireland
 --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --
    XML, XSL-FO and XSLT consulting, training and programming
       Chair, Print and Page Layout Community Group @ W3C

[1] http://www.w3.org/TR/xml-names/
[2] http://www.w3.org/TR/xml/#sec-common-syn
[3] http://www.w3.org/TR/xml-names/#Conformance
[4] http://www.w3.org/TR/xml-names/#NT-NCName