Undefined default for state attribute

Dear 
TC,

 

We find ambiguous 
that in version 1.2 the state attribute has an undefined default value. This 
renders to fully compliant XLIFF documents where it is not possible to tell if 
the target text is or is not the translation of the source text, preventing 
interoperability and reliability of key QA functions.  

 

For example, with 
the current specification, a tool maker could have a valid XLIFF file 
where each source value has a target value, but for some cases, the target text 
is the real translation and in other cases, it is merely the source text that 
has been primed there.

 

We propose that the 
XLIFF specification does not allow ambiguity in attributes that do not need it, 
to avoid that such ambiguity may hinder or effectively prevent interoperability. 
In most cases, defining a default value should be enough to prevent 
ambiguity.

 

Regards,

Josep.