[Bug 1881] separator automatism does more harm than it helps

http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=1881


mike@saxonica.com changed:

           What    |Removed                     |Added
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Status|NEW                         |RESOLVED
         Resolution|                            |WONTFIX




------- Additional Comments From mike@saxonica.com  2005-09-28 14:02 -------
We do recognize that there are usability problems concerned with the
insertion (or non-insertion) of spaces between items in a sequence under
different circumstances. We have put quite a lot of work into this area,
trying to ensure that the specification is consistent across different
instructions while remaining backwards compatible, and that it usually does
what you would expect if you are not intimately familiar with the
specification. 

The basic principle is that spaces are inserted between atomic values, but not
between text nodes. The reason for the first rule is that a sequence of atomic
values is often used to construct list-valued elements or attributes, and this
reflects the relationship of sequences in our data model to list types in XML
Schema. The reason for the second rule is so that the traditional use of a
sequence of xsl:value-of and xsl:text instructions continues to work as it did
in XSLT 1.0. Users therefore need to understand the difference between strings
and text nodes. We do realise that this is a subtle distinction, but we think
this will just be something that new users have to learn. 

We don't think it would be right to change the behaviour of any existing
constructs: this will either create backwards compatibilities, or it will merely
shift the "surprises" from one use case to a different use case.

We don't think that adding any new global defaults will help. Global defaults
are best avoided where possible, because they can increase problems for users
when debugging (the cause of the problem is remote from the code being executed)
and when cutting-and-pasting code from one stylesheet to another. Also, they
only complicate things for users who haven't yet grasped the basic concepts.

We will review whether there is scope for adding extra examples to explain the
behavior more clearly.

We are changing the status to WONTFIX, and will close the bug. If you are not
satisfied with this response, please re-open the bug.

Michael Kay
for the XSL Working Group

Received on Wednesday, 28 September 2005 14:02:33 UTC