Re: annotation-xml and annotation encoding

Dear Henri,

OpenOffice uses:
<math:annotation math:encoding="StarMath 5.0">...</math:annotation> to
describe the "source" for the MathML encoded in its ODF (OpenDocument
Formula) files. This works very well within Openoffice and related
products, which use this information when re-reading files.

Hth

Max Berger

On Mon, 2007-12-17 at 10:23 +0200, Henri Sivonen wrote:
> As far as I can tell, MathML 2.0 doesn't define a mechanism that's  
> allow implementations to implementations to use interoperable values  
> for the encoding attribute on <annotation> and <annotation-xml>. The  
> spec gives four tokens leaving their meaning implicit: MathML- 
> Presentation, MathML-Content, TeX and OpenMath.
> 
> In the MathML 3.0 draft, the encoding attribute on <annotation> seems  
> to take a MIME type, such as text/latex or text/maple, or a product  
> name token like Maple, Mathematica or TeX.
> 
> In the MathML 3.0 draft the encoding attribute on <annotation-xml> is  
> said to take a namespace URI but examples use tokens such as OpenMath.
> 
> Using a namespace URI as the encoding attribute value seems redundant  
> and unnecessary. Why wouldn't the consuming application inspect the  
> namespace of the child element?
> 
> <annotation> and <annotation-xml> appear to be so vaguely defined that  
> I have to doubt their interoperable implementability. Have they been  
> implemented in applications that consumes MathML? If they have been  
> implemented, have they been implemented interoperably? If they are now  
> interoperably implemented, it would be good for the spec to define how  
> to consume them in the way that is interoperable.
>