Re: datatyping discussion

Brian McBride wrote:
> 
> Is 'decimal' a type?  I'm thinking it is a coding scheme for integers (or floats
> for that matter.  Why do I feel the gentle tugging of an enormous black hole
> opening up in front of me here.  Time to go read the XSD spec.

Strictly, Brian, a black hole can't be said to be `opening up'.... no,
leave it alone.

> > (C4) are multiple type assignments allowed? (e.g. US dollar, decimal)
> 
> As above, I don't see either of these as a 'type', so I'm not sure this
> critereon is well formed.  Nor is it a criterion, unless a preference for one or
> the other is specified.

Seriously, dollars and deicmals are not types but encodings of data of a
certain type... surely?
The unit chosen maps the integer value into a sequence of numerals in
the same way that the choice of radix does. Therefore `decimal' and
`pounds' belong in the same syntactic position. The type which selects
the semantic domain belongs elsewhere. Radix and unit have the same role
as `lang' - they stipulate how the characters are to mapped into a
semantic sub-domain which itself has a particular type.
-- 
Martyn Horner <martyn.horner@profium.com>
Profium, Les Espaces de Sophia,
Immeuble Delta, B.P. 037, F-06901 Sophia-Antipolis, France
Tel. +33 (0)4.93.95.31.44 Fax. +33 (0)4.93.95.52.58
Mob. +33 (0)6.21.01.54.56 Internet: http://www.profium.com

Received on Friday, 19 October 2001 09:36:17 UTC