- From: Steven R. Newcomb <srn@techno.com>
- Date: Thu, 5 Jun 1997 11:43:35 -0400
- To: peat@erols.com
- CC: xml-dev@ic.ac.uk, w3c-sgml-wg@w3.org
Dear Developers of XML : XML really, really needs notation data attributes. Without them, you can't do object inheritance from architecture (DTD) to architecture (document, whether it has its own DTD or not). An inheritable architecture is, in fact, a notation. We already support notations in XML. What we don't have is the ability to declare the mappings between the inherited architecture's objects (elements and attributes) and the document's objects (elements and attributes). For that, we need notation data attributes. It's a small thing, really, but, wow, what a difference it makes! The usefulness of inheritance for all kinds of purposes (and not least for EDI) is too great to ignore; it is one of the most useful and attractive aspects of SGML. There is no good reason not to do it in XML. So, how about it, ERB? For a discussion of why architectural inheritability is overwhelmingly important, you may want to read my (now slightly dated) paper, "SGML Architectures: Implications and Opportunities for Industry" at http://www.techno.com/sgmlarchitecture.html. Best regards, --Steve Steven R. Newcomb President voice +1 716 271 0796 TechnoTeacher, Inc. fax +1 716 271 0129 (courier: 23-2 Clover Park, Internet: srn@techno.com Rochester NY 14618) FTP: ftp.techno.com P.O. Box 23795 WWW: http://www.techno.com Rochester, NY 14692-3795 USA
Received on Thursday, 5 June 1997 11:47:51 UTC