comments on the XHTML specification

1. This is a general comment concerning the term "element" defined in
section 2 "General Terms" as

	   An element is a docment structuring unit declared in the DTD. The
element's content model is defined 
	   in the DTD, and additional semantics may be defined in the prose
description of the element.

This seems to be the definition of an "element type" rather than an"element"
since the XML specification 
defines "element" as

   EmptyElemTag | STag content ETag

in [39] of section 3 "Logical Structures". I recommend the rewording of the
above definition as

	   An element is a docment structuring unit whose type is declared
in the DTD. 
	   The element type's allowable content is defined in the DTD, and
additional
	   semantics may be defined in the prose description of the element.

for greater clarity. I think it is highly desirable for the sake of
compatibility with SGML/XML usage to 
maintain the distinction between "element" and "element type" throughout the
text of this specification.

Note that "EMPTY" is not a content model but declared content while "ANY" is
a content model. See 
[125] "declared content" of section 11.2.3 "Declared Content" and [126]
"content model" in section 11.2.4 
"Content Model" of ISO 8879.

2. Change "explicitely" to "explicitly" in item 2 of section C.13 "Cascading
Style Sheets (CSS) and HTML".

Received on Wednesday, 27 October 1999 10:21:42 UTC