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

Thanks for the comment, which will be processed by the working group.

I attach some personal observations on your comment.

> 
> 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.

Please note that section 3.3
http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt20/#extension-attributes

already permits such attributes, provided they are in a private
namespace.

> 
>   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.

I think you are right to recommend that users should document their
stylesheets in this kind of way, but I think (from previous discussions
concerning other parts of the language) the WG will be reluctant to add
elements or attributes to the language whose sole purpose is
documentation.

Regards,

Michael Kay

Received on Sunday, 25 January 2004 12:30:13 UTC