[XSLT2.0] xsl:output-character, additional attributes (SMITH 01)

This is a request for a spec change related to the definition of the
xsl:output-character[1] element in section "20.1 Character Maps" of the
XSLT 2.0 last call Working Draft.

  [1] http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt20/#element-output-character

      <xsl:output-character
        character = char
        string = string />

  [2] http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt20/#character-maps

      Definition: A character map allows a specific character appearing
      in a text or attribute node in the result tree to be substituted
      by a specified string of characters during serialization.

In the definititon for the xsl:output-character element, either:

  A. Specify that the presence of any extra attributes in an
     xsl:output-character instance in addition to the required
     "character" and "string" attributes should not cause a compliant
     XSLT 2.0 processor to generate an error.

  or

  B. Add additional optional attributes to the definition, for the
     purpose of specifying:

       - the ISO character entity name; e.g., entity="Ccedil" 
       - the ISO character name; e.g., name="LATIN CAPITAL LETTER C WITH CEDILLA"

Rationale: Make character maps easier to read/maintain, and facilitate use
of character maps other than just the use described in the XSLT 2.0 spec.

For example, in a character map for substituting Unicode characters with
roff escape-sequence strings, an entry for the "capital C cedilla"
character would look like this:

  <xsl:output-character
    character="&#x00C7;"
    name="LATIN CAPITAL LETTER C WITH CEDILLA"
    entity="Ccedil"
    string="¥(,C"/>

I don't think most users would want to try editing a character map
without such human-readable information in it.

Received on Saturday, 24 January 2004 23:05:01 UTC