[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message]

Re: XML Search Engine Holy War - Attributes vs. Elements

• From: "Ken North" <ken_north@c...>
• To: "DuCharme, Robert" <DuCharmR@m...>, <xml-dev@i...>
• Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1999 14:38:07 -0700

DuCharme, Robert wrote:
> The sole purpose of ID type attributes is to uniquely
> identify elements, and unique identifiers ought to be pretty handy when
> searching for information. A system that can quickly locate elements with
a
> particular value in an IDREF type attribute would be very useful in link
> maintenance and implementation.
>
> Come to think of it, a system that left out element content might be more
> useful than one that left out attributes. Of course I'm kidding, but a
nice
> thing about implementing storage of attributes is that they map more
easily
> to relational databases where ID and IDREF attributes can be easily
indexed
> for searching.

It's probably appropriate to make a distinction between precise matches and
similarity searching. Using unique identifiers and indexing attributes will
improve performance of the former. On the other hand, a search engine such
as AT&T Whirl can recognize patterns in data. That enables it to do
similarity matches, even in the absence of unique identifiers.

================== Ken North =============================
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Ken_North
knorth@m...   ken_north@c...

Java Developer's Conference, San Jose, California
October 17-21, 1999 http://www.javadevcon.com

XML One Fall, Santa Clara, CA
November 8-11, 1999 http://www.xmlconference.com/xmlusa




xml-dev: A list for W3C XML Developers. To post, mailto:xml-dev@i...
Archived as: http://www.lists.ic.ac.uk/hypermail/xml-dev/ and on CD-ROM/ISBN 981-02-3594-1
To unsubscribe, mailto:majordomo@i... the following message;
unsubscribe xml-dev
To subscribe to the digests, mailto:majordomo@i... the following message;
subscribe xml-dev-digest
List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (mailto:rzepa@i...)

• Follow-Ups:
  • DOM for Expat - what was that URL again ?
    • From: "Richard Anderson" <rja@a...>

• References:
  • RE: XML Search Engine Holy War - Attributes vs. Elements
    • From: "DuCharme, Robert" <DuCharmR@m...>

• Prev by Date: Re: (Off topic) Shaken not stirred
• Next by Date: DOM for Expat - what was that URL again ?
• Previous by thread: Re: XML Search Engine Holy War - Attributes vs. Elements
• Next by thread: DOM for Expat - what was that URL again ?
• Index(es):
  • Date
  • Thread