[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] RE: [SML] Whether to support Attribute or not?
> From: Clark C. Evans [mailto:clark.evans@m...] > I do find a simple binary split to give insight and act > as a great guide for organizing information: > > Attributes: > > The rules, directives, instructions, > which individually mean nothing in the > current context, but taken together give > structure to the element. In particuar, > these act as "instructions" to the > processor which acts on the xml, configuring > the processor so that it knows how to > handle the incoming content. This information > is targeted at the target program, not > the final consumer. I Completely agree with this guideline since I expect attribute to add behaviours to elements. Indeed when you need some action to be performed on behalf the element like making an element stateful (ID="...") for further reference (IDREF="..."), or to differenciate two elements with a -kind of CSS- 'class' atribute instead of encapsulating these elements into other elements. On contrary elements act as content. > Content: > > Those components, which, in the current > frame of reference, have individual value > and are seperable from the whole. In > particualar, these act as "data" to the > processor -- the information to be processed. > This inforamation is targeted to the > final consumer. > > Anyway, to me the distinction is all too clear and > it is also irritating when people don't seem to see > it as I do Not only irritating but also hazardous, since I agree I don't use that much attributes, but when I do, it really makes sense to use them, and removing support to attribute frightens me more than anything. Seb > I recognize that my description is far from perfect. > > However, as the methodology has served me well, > wish to inform others of what I've learned from > diligent reading and study of others. > > > [...] > > > > > >I'm not saying that this is a direct analogy, however, > > >there are domains which attributes are very useful > > >and mixing them with content seems very confusing. > > > > I agree they can be confusing to the human eye > > but so too are CALS tables with all the end-tags! > > Yep. I'm not so happy with <element <att>val</att> /> > but this style of syntax does support a binary > decomposition of the information. > > How well such a thing would work really depends > on valid applications... how well it works in > the real world. > > > Attributes are a form of markup minimization. > > They are more pleasing to the eye in certain > > situations. Easier to read and all that. > > I tend to use them to support this particular > decomposition of the problem domain. So far > it has proved to give nice rewards in reduced > complexity. I'm still an XML "adventurer", so > we will see how sustaining the success is. > > > >In any case, if SML were to drop attributes, and not > > >provide at least a non-recursive replacement, then > > >I think the solutions using the "simpler" standard > > >would be far more "complicated" than just using XML. > > > > > >And, once again, I'm not sure at all about recursive > > >attributes... I'm just pointing out the possibility > > >and thinking out loud. Sorry if this makes you unhappy. > > > > > Apologies about the "harrupmph!" of the last posting. > > Got a bit worked up. No offense intended. > > Same here. ;) > > Best, > > Clark > > > 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...) > 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...)
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