[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Storing rounded numbers, in addition to the actual numbers (corre cted)
I am looking for advice about the best way to store rounded numbers, in addition to the actual numbers, in an XML document. We need both the actual and the rounded number because some consumers of the XML require one, and some require the other. We want to store this (redundant) information so that the process used to render the output, e.g. stylesheet, can be kept simple. The program that produces the XML is already reasonably complex, and extending it to emit the rounded numbers would not be hard. Th actual numbers are stored as element content. The rounded number could be stored either as a separate element, or as an attribute of that element. However I generally use the principle "use elements for data, and attributes for metadata" and so favor using elements. Note that we are rounding to the nearest 1000 (as per an SEC reporting requirement.) But I can imagine a document that would have different levels, and in that case we might need to specify the grain of the rounding. This seems to be best done as an attribute, e.g. RoundingLevel="1000". This is compatible with any of the possibilities below. Plan 1. An attribute <netAssets rounded="568000">567890</netAssets> Plan 2a. A separate element, in the same name space <netAssets>567890</netAssets> <netAssetsRounded>568000</netAssetsRounded> Plan 2b A minor variation here would be to use a name with a "separator" character, e.g. <netAssets.Rounded> Plan 3: A separate element, in a separate namespace <netAssets>567890</netAssets> <Rounded:netAssets>568000</Rounded:netAssets> This does not seem better than the above, but I include it for completeness. Does it add any value? P.S. Note that there are many other cases where redundant information might be carried in an XML document. Are there general principles for this that have already been stated? Thanks, Steve -- Steven Tolkin steve.tolkin@f... 617-563-0516 Fidelity Investments 82 Devonshire St. V10D Boston MA 02109 There is nothing so practical as a good theory. Comments are by me, not Fidelity Investments, its subsidiaries or affiliates.
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