XML Protocol WG response to XML Schema base64 questions

This mail forms the XML Protocol WG response to two questions from the XML
Schema WG regarding the base64Binary type.

Questions 1: A strict reading of RFC 2045 (Base64) is that if the "="
character
appears in a base64 encoded message, it must be in the last position or the
last position and the next-to-last position, and the number of characters
in the message (including any "=" character) must be a multiple of 4. Given
this reading, should these rules be enforced as part of XML Schema lexical
validation?

Response: If most base64 implementations enforce that all base64 encodings
must be a multiple of 4 characters padded with '=' as necessary then we
think Schema should too. Other than that we do not have an opinion.

Question 2: Should there be a canonical form for XML Schema's base64
encoding?
Example canonical form #1: a blank is inserted after each 4 or 8 characters
(like hex). Example canonical form #2: a newline character after every 76
characters.

Response: We do not have an opinion on whether there should be a canonical
form or what such a canonical form should be.

Regards

Martin Gudgin
DevelopMentor
For the XML Protocol Working Group

Received on Wednesday, 5 September 2001 11:42:59 UTC