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Re: Quiz: XML flexibility

• To: Razvan MIHAIU <mihaiu@m...>
• Subject: Re: Quiz: XML flexibility
• From: Rick Marshall <rjm@z...>
• Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 14:34:41 +1100
• Cc: xml-dev@l...
• In-reply-to: <20050227215936.djrww2q7440ss00c@w...>
• Organization: Zenucom Pty Ltd
• References: <20050227215936.djrww2q7440ss00c@w...>
• User-agent: Mozilla Thunderbird 0.6 (X11/20040502)

a quick read through the replies to this post shows some interesting stuff:

1. edi is slandered - i agree that was unnecessary, particularly as 
there's no reason to believe it is going to be any easier of harder to 
set up with multiple trading partners (apologies to oasis and ebxml)
2. flexibility can only be measured in terms of use - and it seems to me 
that all or some of the technologies mentioned might have something to 
do with use - but until the problem is better described, who knows. a 
better question might be "would a system based on xml and xslt be more 
flexible than a proprietary solution for converting electronic documents 
to backend applications?"
3. in an interesting experiment on child development (on a tv program 
..... ) children were shown beating adults at a game of matching pairs 
of cards face down on a table - game has lots of names. the children won 
because they weren't distracted by layouts of cards on the table, dinner 
burning, etc - they just matched pairs. if you have more than a bit of 
experience you have too many real life experiences and distractions to 
be able to pass an exam like this.
4. does the quiz help get more practioners into the xml world? if it 
does, i'd accept it for what it is - just another test someone has to 
pass to advance their career.

ok, i've moved on....

rick

Razvan MIHAIU wrote:

>Hi,
>
>
>
>
>	In an XML quiz I found the following question:
>
>  
>
>
>A company wants to develop an EDI system, which will help it to integrate with
>its various trading partners (suppliers and clients). Their previous attempt
>failed, as it required a unique implementation for each pair of trading
>partners. Now they want to explore the capabilities of XML to make this system
>efficient.
>
>The company wants to keep the structure of XML documents flexible and open to
>future changes. Which of the following is most likely implied by this
>requirement ?
>
>A. XML Schema;
>B. mixed content model;
>C. XSL stylesheets;
>D. validating parser;
>
>  
>
>
>Correct answer: B
>My choice: A
>
>
>	Isn't this a dumb question ? I mean if you choose A you can certainly use mixed
>content model with XML Schema, so answer A and B are not exclusive.
>
>	What I am really trying to understand is "what is flexibility" ? In any XML
>document you can add elements and attributes at will if you update the
>associated schema. Old applications would just ignore the new elements and
>attributes, so "flexibility" is build-in into XML. So, what are you doing when
>you want to design a flexible XML document ?
>
>	Can somebody give me an example of an XML document that is *not* flexible as
>opposed to one that it is ?
>
>
>
>
>
>Regards,
>Razvan
>
>
>www.mihaiu.name
>
>
>
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n:Marshall;Rick 
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  • Quiz: XML flexibility
    • From: Razvan MIHAIU <mihaiu@m...>

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