[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] RE: Why not PIs for namespace declarations?
On Thu, 23 Dec 1999, Andrew Layman wrote: > Clark Evans asks why PIs are not the mechanism for namespace declaration. > That option was extensively debated during the design process (see the > archives for details). The short answer is that PIs do not have tree scope, > so are unsuitable for modular document construction. This specific problem points out to a flaw in the PI mechanism that could have been fixed... rather than creating a "work-around" -- as David pointed out, not many tools were compliant anyway! For example, this could have been easily fixed by altering the XML syntax to allow for PI's to occur within elements... <parent> <child> <?pi?> <grandchild/> <!-- pi's scope ends here --> </child> </parent> I'm sure the "backward compatible" drum was used, however, in the XML world, unlike the bulk of programming tradition, the data outlives the program, not the other way around. Thus, this would have been backward-data compatible, which is the only concern. Specific versions of programs typically have a shelf life for less than 2-3 years, where data can last for decades. On the other hand, how is having xmlns:prefix="uri" going to mess up programs that expect processing instructions to appear in PIs -- ones that show attributes directly to end-users. So, is a long-term fix in the works? Or are we going to keep using attributes for processing instructions and deprechate the unapprechiated PI mechanism? 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...)
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