Re: My action item on RDDL/RDF

>>>"Anthony B. Coates" said:
> Yet W3C XML Schemas don't seem to have a problem with using
> namespace prefixes in attribute values.  I've never understood why
> RDF cannot follow that lead. 

You mean RDF/XML, the syntax, not RDF the graph.

One reason is that RDF/XML was a recommendation several years before
W3C XML Schemas.  As I understand it, at that time (1997/1998), XML
Namespaces itself were seen as kind of a novelty, rather
controversial (still is to some xml-dev people) and I don't know if
it was ever suggested to use qnames in that way.

However, using qnames in attribute values is something the TAG has
been considering:

   Findings of the W3C Technical Architecture Group (TAG)
   http://www.w3.org/2001/tag/findings

   =>
   Using Qualified Names (QNames) as Identifiers in Content
   http://www.w3.org/2001/tag/doc/qnameids

And makes several observations, one of which is:

  [[Using QNames in untyped (#PCDATA or xs:string) attribute values
  or element content places an additional burden on the processor
  that was not anticipated by [XML Namespaces].]] (ibid)

One thing I'd hope nobody did was mix and match using Qnames in
attribute values along with other identifiers.  That sounds like a
usability nightmare.

Dave