Re: [xml-dev] KML is very extensible ... but why?

[Patrick Durusau <patrick@durusau.net>]

Simon,

Well, let's say you create an extension to a popular word processing format that provides enhances the content, but only if used with your software.

Isn't that a form of vendor lock-in, even if practiced by an individual contractor?

Being mindful of a Netware installation many years ago where the "backup" copy of the boot disk was in fact delivered blank. Not discovered until after the contractor had pulled up stakes and moved to Arizona.

True, you could still read the XML but the costs of re-creating a one-off application from scratch could be, not necessarily would be, prohibitive.

Yes?

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Patrick

On 04/22/2018 05:29 PM, Simon St.Laurent wrote:

On 4/20/2018 12:59 PM, Costello, Roger L. wrote:

Hi Folks,

 

The format of KML 2.3 documents are specified with a W3C 1.1 XML Schema. XML Schema 1.1 has a powerful feature which KML uses. At the top of the KML schema is this:

  <defaultOpenContent mode="interleave">
      <any namespace="##other" processContents="lax"/>
   </defaultOpenContent>

Read as: "KML documents are open. That is, XML elements from any non-KML namespace can be inserted before and after every element in KML documents. Those non-KML elements do not have to validate against any schema."

 

That makes KML very extensible.

 

But why?

Why not?  In Simon's world of sane XML, EVERY SINGLE SCHEMA would include such a thing, and be mocked if it didn't.

Thanks,
Simon

If I add non-KML stuff in a KML instance, who’s going to understand my stuff? Google Earth? No. Google Maps? No. NASA WorldWind? No.

 

Only applications that have been custom-coded to understand my stuff will be able to do anything with it. Right? Doesn’t that destroy KML as a global geographic annotation/visualization language since now you’ve got all these non-interoperable dialects floating around?

 

Thoughts?

 

/Roger

 

-- 
Patrick Durusau
patrick@durusau.net
Technical Advisory Board, OASIS (TAB)
Editor, OpenDocument Format TC (OASIS), Project Editor ISO/IEC 26300
Co-Editor, ISO/IEC 13250-1, 13250-5 (Topic Maps)

Another Word For It (blog): http://tm.durusau.net
Homepage: http://www.durusau.net
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