Re: Unknown variables in XPATH (2.0)

>>>>> "Michael" == Michael Kay <mhk@xxxxxxxxx> writes:

    Michael> Strictly speaking, the static context defines which
    Michael> variables are in scope for an XPath expression, and there
    Michael> is nothing that prevents the static context containing an
    Michael> infinite number of variables whose (dynamic) value is
    Michael> false.

That is the argument that was put to me. I hummed and hawed over it,
and decided to seek other opinions.

    Michael> But I think that if you have more than one user,
    Michael> the others will all be surprised by this interpretation
    Michael> of the spec, and irritated not to get an error message
    Michael> when they misspell a variable name.

That's a very strong point. I'll make it an option.

    Michael> Also, () would be a more natural value to return than
    Michael> false().

Yes, but that isn't what is wanted by the user in question.
It's a case of boolean-valued environment variables, to indicate
certain products are installed. Most people don't bother to define
such an environment variable on their system, to indicate they haven't
installed the product, so false() is the natural default in this case.
-- 
Colin Paul Adams
Preston Lancashire

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