Re: PIs considered harmful Was: XML-SW, a thought experiment

Tim Berners-Lee wrote:
> 
>...
> Or maybe there should be a half-way point.  There should be
> a standard element type (which any language can subtype) whose
> elements in a document have an FYI status. That is,
> their understanding is optional and they carry their own significance
> independently of the rest of the document, rather than
> modify the  effects of other things in the document.

Most XML applications do not use schemas yet and many will not use them
at runtime. Processing instructions can be recognized with consulting
the schema or other metadata.

>...
> Of course the otehr tack is to make PI syntax the same as that of elements
> with the namespace support so that the complixity would be reduced by using
> exactly the
> same machinery, and basically the "?" beoming an "optional" flag.

That strikes me as very practical.

 Paul Prescod