Hi Folks,
The XML Schema specification says that numbers (integers, decimals, etc.) must exclusively use the European digits (0-9):
[number]
has a lexical representation consisting of a finite-length sequence of decimal digits (#x30-#x39)
That is a narrow world view.
Interestingly, the XML Schema specification says that element names can use characters from languages throughout the world:
{name}
An NCName as defined by [XML-Namespaces].
That is a universal world view.
So, if a Bengali-speaking person wants to create XML documents in his native language, he can create elements like this (the tag name shown is the Bengali word for Number_Students):
<সংখ্যা_ছাত্র>…</সংখ্যা_ছাত্র>
And he can validate his XML instance against an XML Schema to confirm that it is using the correct element names.
Great!
But ………… he cannot use the Bengali digits in the instance document because XML Schemas only allows European digits.
So, the XML Schema designers embraced the XML vision of universality as far as element names are concerned, but then adopted a restricted world view for numbers.
Given that many people use XML in combination with XML Schema, the decision to allow only European digits dramatically reduces the universality of XML. That is a sad thing, is it not?
/Roger
Cart
