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Re: The string datatype is an anti-datatype [was: The meaning

• From: Dimitre Novatchev <dnovatchev@g...>
• To: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@m...>
• Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2009 09:45:21 -0700

I understand that we could label anything that does not fit into any
established type definition as "xs:string", however I doubt this is
correct.

One reason is that any string is equivalent to a sequence of integers:

   xs:integer*

which is quite typed, isn't it?


Probably, we should not speak about "anti-type", but about the "most
primitive" datatype (in the sense that any other can be
derived/expressed from it).


And the most primitive datatype in any type system clearly is:

       xs:integer.




-- 
Cheers,
Dimitre Novatchev
---------------------------------------
Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence.
---------------------------------------
To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk
-------------------------------------
Never fight an inanimate object
-------------------------------------
You've achieved success in your field when you don't know whether what
you're doing is work or play





On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 6:30 AM, Costello, Roger L. <costello@m...> wrote:
>  Rick, this is so cool:
>
>> XML Schemas String datatype is perhaps
>> better thought of as an anti-datatype
>> rather than a datatype. What it does is
>> signify an absence of a value-space: it
>> is not asserted to be a number, not asserted
>> to be a date, not asserted to be a boolean.
>
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• Follow-Ups:
  • RE: The string datatype is an anti-datatype [was: The meaning of the "string" datatype?]
    • From: "Michael Kay" <mike@s...>

• References:
  • The meaning of the "string" datatype?
    • From: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@m...>
  • Re: The meaning of the "string" datatype?
    • From: Rick Jelliffe <rjelliffe@a...>
  • The string datatype is an anti-datatype [was: The meaning of the"string" datatype?]
    • From: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@m...>