Re: xml{base,lang,space} on the SVGElement interface

On Saturday, December 22, 2012, 2:18:26 PM, Cameron wrote:

CM> What is our current thinking on the xmlbase, xmllang and xmlspace IDL 
CM> attributes on SVGElement?  Are we keeping them?  We don't implement them
CM> in Firefox and we are deciding whether we should.

CM> (Keep in mind that we are moving away from using xml:space="" as the 
CM> mechanism for affecting white space behaviour in <text> elements.)

My personal opinions:

@xml:space was useless and our attempt to make it do something useful did not work. Drop.

@xml:lang is useful and exactly parallels html @lang. HTML5 prioritises lang and we should do likewise, but still support xml:lang in content. I notice that, unlike xml:base and xml:space, html5 allows xml:lang in documents in the html syntax. So - support both in both syntaxes, state they are exactly equivalent, give rules if both are provided.

@xml:base is useful and is both more consistent and more granular than the html <base> element (can have multiple in one document, can have different base for a subtree - useful when aggregating content). Its a pity html5 doesn't add a @base attribute for use in non-xml-syntax documents.

Maybe we can talk them into adding @base?

-- 
 Chris Lilley   Technical Director, Interaction Domain                 
 W3C Graphics Activity Lead, Fonts Activity Lead
 Co-Chair, W3C Hypertext CG
 Member, CSS, WebFonts, SVG Working Groups

Received on Monday, 7 January 2013 19:29:16 UTC