Re: RDFa and Microformats

Hi Toby,

I'm afraid turning the question around doesn't make it go away.

>>  <span
>>    class="p1" content="v1"
>>    property="p2">v2</span>
>>
>> How does the RDFa parser know that @content was added for use in a
>> Microformat, rather than for use in RDFa?
>
>
>        <span content="v1"
>        property="p1 p2">v2</span>
>
> How does the RDFa parser know that @content was added for p1 and not p2?
>
> Answer: it doesn't; it can't;

In the sense that it cannot know the 'intent', then of course you are right.

But the outcome of the mark-up is clearly defined in the RDFa
processing rules, and you will get this:

  <> p1 "v1" .
  <> p2 "v1" .

That's very different to the problem I am describing, where the use of
@content in one language (Microformats) causes problems with its use
in another language (RDFa).

There are no other attributes that cause this problem.


> ... if you really want value v2 to be associated
> with property p2, then you shouldn't use that markup.

Right.

And how do you know that you shouldn't use that mark-up?

Because it's clearly defined in the XHTML+RDFa specification.


> Think of this way. If you have the following markup:
>
>        <span property="foaf:name"
>        content="Toby Inkster">Toby</span>
>
> then you decide to add hCard to your page:
>
>        <span property="foaf:name" class="fn"
>        content="Toby Inkster">Toby</span>
>
> why should the microformat not benefit from RDFa's more descriptive markup?

If *both* @property and @content are present, then @class can become a
predicate, too? That doesn't sound so bad. :)

But that isn't what was being proposed.

The proposal is that @content becomes part of Microformats mark-up,
independent of the presence or otherwise of other RDFa attributes;
that will cause problems when other attributes are present on the same
element, as I've shown, and is just a replay by the Microformats
community of the <abbr> problem.

Also, as you said yourself earlier, the resource that the properties
are being attached to is different in RDFa than it is in Microformats:

  <div class="hcard">
    <span property="foaf:name" class="fn"
     content="Toby Inkster">Toby</span>
  </div>

So there is not a direct mapping between @property/@content and @class/@content.

Regards,

Mark

-- 
Mark Birbeck, webBackplane

mark.birbeck@webBackplane.com

http://webBackplane.com/mark-birbeck

webBackplane is a trading name of Backplane Ltd. (company number
05972288, registered office: 2nd Floor, 69/85 Tabernacle Street,
London, EC2A 4RR)

Received on Monday, 15 September 2008 13:00:21 UTC