Re: element UIDs in MusicXML 3.1?

Hi James,
I think MusicXML should follow the analogy employed by HTML:
- All elements may have an ID attribute
- All ID attributes are optional
- The ID attribute must be an ID type (i.e. it can only be used once per
document. See:
https://www.w3.org/TR/2008/REC-xml-20081126/#sec-attribute-types)

I don't think any MusicXML client should be expected to generate IDs. I can
see how they could be helpful in certain scenarios. For example, I assume
that you're trying to use a DOM API method like getElementById to make DOM
manipulation easier.

Alternatively, we could leave the specification as is. Your client could
internally generate IDs on file load, then remove the IDs on file
save/export. This would allow you to use IDs within your client without
having to modify the MusicXML schema.

J. Sawruk

On Tue, Aug 2, 2016 at 1:51 PM, James Sutton <jsutton@dolphin-com.co.uk>
wrote:

> Hello all MusicXML Users,
>
> I wonder if it would be possible to add optional UID fields to the major
> elements in MusicXML 3.1, especially <note>, <direction-type>, and all the
> daughters of <notation> in MusicXML 3.1. A simple optional attribute <...
> id="12345"> is all that is required
>
> This would give us a huge boost, allowing transformations to scores, and
> annotations which can be overlaid, things which at the moment are next to
> impossible because notes etc. cannot be uniquely identified in a a changing
> score
>
> I know the dangers of spec creep but it seems this could be added very
> simply, with a very big payoff for those of us using MusicXML as a
> first-class document.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> with best regards
> James Sutton
> Dolphin Computing
> http://www.dolphin-com.co.uk
> http://www.seescore.co.uk <http://www.dolphin-com.co.uk>
>
>
>
>