RE: Objection to hexBinary and base64Binary

Charles Frankston writes:

>> I cannot think of a requirement that is advanced 
>> by allowing multiple lexical representations for a 
>> single datatype.

Regardless of the pros and cons of the binary types, the case that we (or 
I anyway) found most compelling is:

        100.0 == 1.0E2 == 0.1E3

for float.  Requiring exponential notation would seem to be the only 
consistent single lexical representation, and I don't think users prefer 
that restriction.  That decision on float lets the cat out of the bag: 
having a single lexical rep. is not an invariant of the design.  We then 
allowed in leading zeros, etc. as a reasonable convenience given that 
multiple reps are allowed in general.

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Noah Mendelsohn                                    Voice: 1-617-693-4036
Lotus Development Corp.                            Fax: 1-617-693-8676
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Received on Tuesday, 24 April 2001 21:08:03 UTC