Re: Request for PR for XML 1.1

On Monday, October 13, 2003, 6:39:03 PM, Paul wrote:



PG> The XML Core WG requests publication of the following document as a W3C
PG> Proposed Recommendation:
PG> http://www.w3.org/XML/Group/2003/10/PR-xml11-20031010/Overview.html

PG> A review version with diffs noted is at
PG> http://www.w3.org/XML/Group/2003/10/PR-xml11-20031010/PR-xml11-20031010-review.html

PG> [...]

PG> Please report errors in this document to xml-editor@w3.org; archives are
PG> available.

I note an error in this document. Although the error is in a Note and,
perhaps, non-normative it is still incorrect and should be corrected.
I do not believe that correction of the error would affect conformance
of XML processors.

2.12 Language Identification

http://www.w3.org/XML/Group/2003/10/PR-xml11-20031010/PR-xml11-20031010-review.html#sec-lang-tag


> [IETF RFC 3066] tags are constructed from two-letter language codes
> as defined by [ISO 639], from two-letter country codes as defined by
> [ISO 3166], or from language identifiers registered with the
> Internet Assigned Numbers Authority [IANA-LANGCODES]

That is correct but not complete, and could lead implementors into
error.

Three-letter language codes are also standardized by ISO 639
- this is a change from when XML 1.0 was originally written. Quoting
from RFC 3066:

http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3066.txt

> All 3-letter subtags are interpreted according to assignments found
> in ISO 639 part 2, "Codes for the representation of names of
> languages -- Part 2: Alpha-3 code [ISO 639-2]", or assignments
> subsequently made by the ISO 639 part 2 maintenance agency or
> governing standardization bodies.

This error could be corrected by removing the note entirely, since its
content is already covered by the prior normative reference to RFC
3066, or alternatively by editing it to make it correct. The following
is suggested if that course is taken:

[IETF RFC 3066] tags are constructed from primary subtags followed by
zero or more hyphen-separated subtags. In primary subtags, two-letter
language codes are defined by [ISO 639] and three-letter language
codes are defined by [ISO 639:2]; one letter subtags "i" and "x" are
also allowed. In the second subtag, two-letter country codes are
defined by [ISO 3166]; three to eight-letter secondary subtags (if the
primary subtag is "i") are defined by language identifiers registered
with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority [IANA-LANGCODES].

Due to the complexity of getting this summary correct, I suggest that
simply referring to RFC 3066 is the easier course.

-- 
 Chris                            mailto:chris@w3.org

Received on Monday, 13 October 2003 15:03:06 UTC