XML.orgXML.org
FOCUS AREAS |XML-DEV |XML.org DAILY NEWSLINK |REGISTRY |RESOURCES |ABOUT
OASIS Mailing List ArchivesView the OASIS mailing list archive below
or browse/search using MarkMail.

 


Help: OASIS Mailing Lists Help | MarkMail Help

[Date Prev] | [Thread Prev] | [Thread Next] | [Date Next] -- [Date Index] | [Thread Index]
Re: [xml-dev] Which is the Authority: The Schema or the Text?

On 12/20/13 5:34 AM, Michael Kay wrote:
One resolution is to write into the text "if there are any conflicts, the schema wins".  I don't think it's helpful to write into the text "if there are any conflicts with the schema, the text wins," since schema users will just ignore that, and I don't know how to write into the schema, "if there are any conflicts with the text, the text wins," although that might be what is wanted.

It doesn't matter what you write down, it depends on who wins when you start fighting over it.

It comes back to the question I often ask about constraints: what happens when your man in Egypt employs a 14-year-old tea-boy and the database (or the company process manual) says he can't? Does the tea-boy get sacked, or not? I'm sure the answer is likely to vary from one company to another, and probably depends on personalities. In most organisations I've come across, the tea-boy stays, but off the official payroll, so everyone is happy.

In XML terms, the schema wins, the tea-boy doesn't appear in the instance documents, or if he does, he appears with a falsified age. But he's still there, making tea.

Michael Kay
Saxonica

Yes, organizations practice a kind of constructive self-deception in which everyone goes away thinking they've won, while holding different views.

-Mike


[Date Prev] | [Thread Prev] | [Thread Next] | [Date Next] -- [Date Index] | [Thread Index]


News | XML in Industry | Calendar | XML Registry
Marketplace | Resources | MyXML.org | Sponsors | Privacy Statement

Copyright 1993-2007 XML.org. This site is hosted by OASIS