XForms WD 20010821 - root element etc confusion

It seems to me that the WD needs some careful editing to remove potential 
confusion relating to what is and is not a "root element".

The example in 2.1 uses a <root> element inside xforms:instance. In 7.2 it is 
stated that instance data always has a single "root element". It seems to me 
that it would be better to avoid <root> elements inside xforms:instance in 
examples. To leave them in is simply inviting avoidable confusion.

Of course the Schema for XForms makes it clear that there need not be a <root>
 element as "root element" (sic) for instance data.

Secondly, the term "root element" has a specific meaning in XML 1.0. It 
doesn't seem to me that it is always clear in the XForms WD when instance 
data is free standing and therefore may correctly be said to have a "root 
element" and when it is nested inside xforms:instance when it would be 
incorrect, in my view, to claim it has a "root element". The root element 
may, of course, be in a non-XForms host language.

Andrew Watt

Received on Thursday, 29 August 2002 08:16:01 UTC