New text for Section 3.3

Hello Addison,

Here is the new text of section 3.3. Please put it into your copy
of the usage scenarios document.

Regards,    Martin.

</div2>
   <div2><head>Locale Independent vs. Locale Dependent Data</head>
   <ednote><edtext>Using locale indep. representations makes i18n 
easier/better/stronger.
   Some types are more or less independent. [Owner: Martin]</edtext></ednote>
   <p>When designing data structures for applications in general  and for 
Web services
   in particular, it is important to design data structures in a 
locale-independent way
   wherever possible. Keeping the data itself from the representation for 
the user leads
   to  a clearer application structure, drastically reduces the number of 
formats for
   interchange, avoids the need for additional information to distinguish 
different
   formats, and allows 'late localization' or 'just in time localization'
   @@@@ reference Mark's paper????@@@@.</p>

   <p> The use of XML Schema in Web services helps promote 
locale-independent data
   because most of the XML Schema datatypes <bibref ref="XMLS-2"/> have 
been designed
   to be locale-independent.</p>
   <div3><head>Textual vs. Binary Representations</head>
   <p>In many traditional applications, the distinction between 
locale-independent and
   locale-dependent datatypes is also a distinction between binary 
representations and
   textual represenations. As an example, a floating-point number is 
represented in some
   binary format internal to an application, and is converted to a text ual 
format, with
   appropriate localization formatting (e.g. using a decimal comma rather 
than a decimal
   point for many European locales), for output to the user.</p>
   <p>Because XML is an
   inherently textual format, the XML Schema Datatypes also are textual. 
Nevertheless,
   most of them were carefully designed to be locale-independent, and are 
intended to
   be used locale-independent. As an example, the XML Schema Datatype 
<code>date</code>
   uses the format YYYY-MM-DD from @@@@ISO 8601@@@@. This format is similar 
(and in some
   cases even identical)  to some actual formats used in some locales, but 
has to be
   understood and used as a locale-independent format. Choosing a format 
that is not
   used in any locale, for example just numbering days since a well-defined 
day, would
   only have made the format much more difficult for humans to work with, 
without any
   benefits.</p></div3>
   <div3><head>Locale-dependent XML Schema datatypes</head>
   <p>While most datatypes in XML Schema are locale-independent, there are 
a few  that
   are locale-dependent, and that therefore should be avoided. These are 
all the
   datatypes that start with 'g', namely <code>gYearMonth</code>, 
<code>gYear</code>,
   <code>gMonthDay</code>, <code>gDay</code>, and <code>gMonth</code>, and the
   <code>duration</code> datatype.</p><p>The semantics of these datatypes are
   bound to the Gregorian calendar.
   As an example, a value of type <code>gMonth</code> such as '5' refers to
   <emph>May in each year
   of the Gregorian calendar</emph>. Such a concept cannot be converted to 
calendars that
	do not have their months aligned with the months of the Gregorian
	calendar, such as the Islamic, Hebrew, or Ethiopic calendar.</p>
   <p>On the other hand, the semantics of the other date- and time-related
   XML Schema datatypes are not bound to the Gregorian calendar, although they
   rely on the Gregorian calendar for their lexical form. For example, the
   <code>date</code> <code>2004-03-30</code> can not only be converted to
   <code>March 30, 2004</code> (still using the Gregorian calendar), but also
   to @@@@insert e.g. Ethiopic example here@@@@.</p></div3>
   <div3><head>Examples</head>
  <example>
    <head>Some locale-independent XML Schema datatypes</head>
    <eg>
    TYPE            : EXAMPLE
    ---------------- ---------------------------
    date            : 2003-05-31
    time            : 13:20:00
    dateTime        : 2003-05-31T13:20:00+09:00
    double          : 1267.43233E12
    integer         : 2678967543233</eg>
    </example>
	<example><head>Locale-dependent XML Schema datatypes</head>
	<eg>
    TYPE            : EXAMPLE
    ---------------- ---------------------------
    duration        : P1Y2M3D
    gYearMonth      : 2003-05
    gYear           : 2003
    gMonthDay       : 05-25
    gDay            : 25
    gMonth          : 05
</eg></example></div3></div2>

Received on Tuesday, 30 March 2004 14:08:37 UTC