Re: What is a "state"?

On 13 Jun 2007, at 02:03, Ian Hickson wrote:

>> Ok, let me put this another way: If there is an attribute for  
>> which the
>> set {"on", "true", "yes"} and missing value maps to the true state.
>> Would you say it defaults to "on"?
>
> The default is a state. The attribute would default to the true state.

The problem is that values and states are different types of entities.
In normal usage a "default state" is the state you get  (or assume)  
when a state is missing. Correspondingly a "default value" is the  
value you get when a value is missing.

A missing value state represents neither of these. It is the state  
you get when a value is missing. It's not a default at all - its just  
a name or status given to a particular situation.

--
Henrik

Received on Wednesday, 13 June 2007 01:14:08 UTC