Comments on WD-html-in-xml-19990304

I just have a few comments on the draft during this last call period:

SUBSTANTIVE COMMENTS:

Internet Media Types:

I think it is very important that the test/xhtml Internet Media Type be
defined by the W3C and associated with the document types defined in
this draft.  I think it equally important that the document make it
clear that this media type is ONLY for use by documents that adhere to
those DTDs. text/xhtml is a solution for a certain class of documents
for a few years.  Ultimately we will be able to move to pure XML
documents that do not rely upon arcane knowledge in browsers in order to
render documents. For now that is unrealistic.  text/xhtml gives us the
best of the XML world while briding us to our HTML past.

Value of the xmlns attribute:

I believe that it makes sense to have a separate namespace definition
for each of the defined DTDs. After all, they have different sets of
legal elements and attributes from one another, and that is what a
namespace isolates.

FPIs for XHTML:

I think that the system ID in the defined FPI should be a fully
qualified URI that points to the definition of the DTD on the W3C
system.  This can be easily overridden by a local catalog if a developer
wishes, but for most people the DTD will not be available locally. 
Also, the W3C should be the definitive repository for these DTDs.

On a related note, Appendix A should contain an example SGML Open
Catalog for these DTDs and the Entity Definitions.



EDITORIAL COMMENTS:

The trademark on the title should not be in brackets.

In section 2.1, the definition of implementation defined should not have
brackets around the term "and document"

The document should define conforming browsers, not conforming user
agents.  User agents have a broader connotation in the W3C world, and
what is really meant here (I think) is browsers.  Note that I don't like
the term browser.  I just don't have a better one.

In section 4.1.2, change "tags" to "elements".  Also, change the e.g.
clause to be enclosed in parenthesis.

In section 4.1.6, remove the space between the element in the /> to make
it clear that this is not a normative requirement of XHTML.

In section 4.1.10, ensure that this is still correct (the W3C is
updating HTML 4.0 right now).

In section 4.2, the current version of the TIDY utility does not seem to
set the DOCTYPE to match what is defined in this document.  TIDY should
be updated.

In appendix C, provide an example of a processing instruction.

Received on Tuesday, 23 March 1999 21:36:24 UTC