Re: IDs - make them case sensitive

> From: Tim Bray <tbray@textuality.com>

> I'd go further; the value of an ID attribute shouldn't have to be
> a Name in the XML sense.  Among other things, a URL is an obvious
> candidate.  Also Bert's points about casefolding are well-taken.
> (Although remember, the NAME attribute of A is *not* an ID anyhow).
> 
> The important thing about an ID is that it be unique, right?
> 
> Why, historically, was the value of an ID restricted to Name?

I think what you are saying is that names (e.g. IDs) should allow 
the characters found in some other things that act like names, but
perhaps don't look like them


I previously suggested the "/" should be allowed as a NAMECHAR 
to allow MIME types as names.  No-one gave any indication of 
aproval at the time, so I didn't dare put it into the revised
declaration. 

We should not be too adventurous though, because the more symbols
we put in from ISO646, the more chance that it will conflict with 
various software products and query languages.

I have already mentioned that I think we should drop "." as a 
NAMECHAR because CSS and WIDL use it.  That is in part the reason why
I explictly put in suggestions about the uses of "_-:" in names:
to try to wean people off "." as much as possible.  


Rick Jelliffe

Received on Friday, 27 June 1997 14:24:45 UTC