Re: Update on namespaces

At 11:56 AM 15/06/97 -0700, Joe English wrote:
>Presumably a namespace will define several names, so a single
>declaration to identify the namespace as a whole should suffice.

Yes.

>Regarding URIs vs. FPIs:  what would the URI point to?  Unless
>the ERB defines a concrete, machine-processable notation for
>namespace definitions, there is little need for a machine-resolvable 
>address.

Having recently been working on MCF, which is precisely a concrete,
machine-processable notation for namespace definitions, I feel a strong
need for a URI.

>Then again, we already have a machine-processable notation for
>defining element types: the (formal part of a) DTD!

Yes, but it is woefully incomplete.  DTDs say nothing about data
typing to start with; extensible typing is the #1 base requirement
of everyone with requirements in this area.

This leads us to a big problem.  We want metadata that includes, but
is not limited to, the kinds of things you can do in a DTD.  What's
the solution?

As for the rest of Joe's proposal, I'm trying to do a summary of
where we stand... stay tuned. -Tim

Received on Tuesday, 17 June 1997 19:54:09 UTC