Re: RFC: White Space Handling In XML Parsing

Paul Grosso wrote:
> I sure don't claim to know what market forces will behoove what behavior,
> but XML parsers must pass on all whitespace.  Anyone adding a switch to
> provide non-compliant behavior will have to make it clear that their
> parser, when operating in this mode, is not an XML parser.

That is pretty much an issue of how you define an XML parser. The XML
spec has one such definition, but that one prohibits namespace handling,
XQL query, XSL transformation or any other added layer on top of the raw
parser.

In the future we will see XML parser that perform additional features,
perhaps through options or by layering filters on top of them. SAX2 is
already defining an interface to support that. The developer would
activate the parser as raw, or as white space handling, as SAX or DOM
building, with or without namespace support, etc.

Whether you prefer to use the raw XML parser for the coming decade is
your choice, and we parser developers will certainly support it. But
should you choose to benefit from additional features that are not
covered by the XML version 1.0 specification, we will also support that.

Arkin

Received on Monday, 31 May 1999 07:31:52 UTC