Resolution of DOM XPath LC issue caro7

DOM XPath module last call issue caro7 was about whether the namespaces
should be resolved at expression creation time or at evaluation time.
The resolution of this issue is to do nothing, as we find the specification
very clear that the namespaces are resolved at expression creation time,
which was a conscious decision after much discussion.  The alternatives
would be either to not guarantee interoperability of this aspect of the
API or to prevent implementations from fully optimizing this part of
the expression.  We realize that it is a difficulty for implementations
that do not really have an intermediate expression form with resolved
namespaces -- it was a tradeoff.  Some sort of preresolution will have
to occur for interoperability.

See the issues list for more complete information at 
http://www.w3.org/2002/03/DOM-Level-3-XPath-issues/all.html#caro7

Please let us know if you are, or are not, satisfied with this resolution.

Ray Whitmer
W3C DOM WG Chair
rayw@netscape.com

Received on Thursday, 5 September 2002 15:15:05 UTC