Re: [F&O] regex syntax too limited

Ashok Malhotra wrote:
> Kurt:
> Thank you for your note.  The WGs discussed your recommendations at the
> joint meeting on 1/19/2005 and decided not to extend the regex syntax as you suggested.
> There has been similar suggestions in the past and the WGs have taken the 
> position that the regex syntax is aligned with XML Schema and is adequate for the
> intended purpose.
> 
> I trust this is satisfactory.

Of course this is not satisfactory. This will unnecessarily impede the
XSLT standard from becoming the kind of "integral processor and compiler
of extremely sophisticated content" as Kurt put it. Only those XSLT
engines with extensibility into non-standard user-contributed functions
will be able to do this, and I will have to continue to hack my own
version of Saxon for the time being. Restrictions like this are unreasonable
and the WG's argument "that the regex syntax is aligned with XML Schema and
is adequate for the intended purpose" is, quite frankly, an unfounded,
dismissive response to our argument that the restrictions created for
W3C XML Schema Part II is not adequate for XSLT.

regards,
-Gunther

>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: public-qt-comments-request@w3.org 
>>[mailto:public-qt-comments-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of Kurt Cagle
>>Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2004 12:10 PM
>>To: public-qt-comments@w3.org
>>Subject: [F&O] regex syntax too limited
>>
>>
>>I wish to endorse the statements made by Gunther Schadow 
>>concerning the need to adopt the full Perl 5 regular 
>>expression syntax, rather than the subset endorsed by the W3C 
>>Standards Group.  XSLT2 has the potential to become an 
>>integral processor and compiler of extremely sophisticated 
>>content, and as such its requirements for regular expressions 
>>considerably exceeds the validation only aspects inherent 
>>within the XML Schema implementation. I would strongly 
>>endorse adopting the Perl 5 regex standard, and at the very 
>>least (as per motion #2, making adoption of the full set 
>>optional for vendors).
>>
>>-- Kurt Cagle


-- 
Gunther Schadow, M.D., Ph.D.                  gschadow@regenstrief.org
Associate Professor           Indiana University School of Informatics
Regenstrief Institute, Inc.      Indiana University School of Medicine
tel:1(317)630-7960                       http://aurora.regenstrief.org

Received on Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:00:46 UTC