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

Re: Content or Metadata?

• From: Tim Bray <tbray@t...>
• To: David Megginson <david@m...>, "'xml-dev@i...'" <xml-dev@i...>
• Date: Thu, 02 Dec 1999 11:16:09 -0800

At 01:14 PM 12/2/99 -0500, David Megginson wrote:
>The second example is an interesting choice.  After all, the full OED
>would probably count as metadata to people who bother to make the
>distinction: 

These are murky waters.  But there are a couple of things that are
incontrovertably true:

1. All metadata is data.  Given an aggregation of data items, each 
   application can and will make its own decisions as to which is "data"
   and which "meta".  Thus a common syntax for both, to the extent
   possible, is a good thing.
2. Not all data is metadata.  Examples: this email message; Chopin's
   Nocturnes; Tuxedo.gif.  

Operationally, my experience suggests that in stuff that is
not metadata, ordering matters.  The converse is true; if ordering matters, 
it's probably not metadata.   There are exceptions but you have to
work pretty hard. -Tim

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:
  • Re: Content or Metadata?
    • From: "James Tauber" <jtauber@j...>
  • Re: Content or Metadata?
    • From: Robin Cover <robin@i...>
  • Re: Content or Metadata?
    • From: David Megginson <david@m...>
  • RE: Content or Metadata?
    • From: "Mike Spreitzer" <spreitze@p...>

• Prev by Date: No Subject
• Next by Date: Re: Content or Metadata?
• Previous by thread: How to embed special characters (such as '<' , carriage return) into the data
• Next by thread: RE: Content or Metadata?
• Index(es):
  • Date
  • Thread