RE: recalculating several models

> This is basic XPath...

Yes, but the example is using the id function to go outside of the instance
document itself. From my understanding, the <xf:instance> element is not
considered part of the contained instance document, so XPathing to that
level seems a bit odd. It almost seems as if we are saying that any element
in the entire XForms *document* may be referenced by id via the id()
function. 

For instance, if using the id() function as you say is possible, then the
same should be possible using axis steps to reach the same element. For
example:

../../xf:model[@id='m2']/xf:instance[@id='i2']/i:mom/i:daughter

I feel fairly confident that this is invalid and so I wonder how the id()
function might retrieve the element referenced. 

The first child element of the <xf:instance> element is considered the
document element (/) for XPathing, so arriving at an ancestor <xf:instance>
element should be impossible as the document element is the ancestor-most
element. 

> this usage is suggested in chapter 4.2 of the XForms Draft.

I see nothing in section 4.2 of the WD that leads me to believe that the
id() function may be used in this fashion. It simply states that all XForm
elements have an id which may be referenced from another context. I would
not grow the assumption that using the id() function to cross-reference
instance documents is what this section is speaking of. 

I am not against using id() in this way but I disagree heavily at the idea
that this usage is basic XPath or that the XPath specification speaks to
using any of it's methods (id included) across multiple documents, as is the
case with multiple XForms instances.

Please advise,

- Ryan



-----Original Message-----
From: Jérôme Nègre [mailto:jerome.negre@e-xmlmedia.fr]
Sent: Monday, January 07, 2002 9:02 AM
To: www-forms@w3.org
Subject: Re: recalculating several models


> > id('i2')/i:mom/i:daughter
>
> Is this valid? I was unaware of using the id function in this way to
> retrieve a separate instance document. If this is not currently specified
in
> the draft I would propose adding it or something similar. This is very
> useful.
>
> - Ryan


This is basic XPath (see definition of function id(...) in chapter 4.1 of
the XPath Recommendation and the given exemples), and this usage is
suggested in chapter 4.2 of the XForms Draft.

Jérôme

Received on Monday, 7 January 2002 09:29:44 UTC