RE: [newsml] Labels

[This message continues a thread archived at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newsml/]
 
>From the very start of the work on NewsML 2, Reuters made quite clear
our requirement for markup in labels, going beyond the markup permitted
in NewsML 1.x Newslines (the Origin element). This requirement was
extensively discussed by the NewsML WP and was included in the NewsML 2
Business Requirements [1] which were unanimously approved at the IPTC's
recent meeting in Amsterdam:
 
<quote>
 
5.9.3 Topic references in labels

NewsML SHOULD support the association of a part of a label with a topic
(people, place, event, organization, subject etc.) via a topic
reference.

Note: Topics references, especially references to named entities, can
thus easily be translated to an hyperlink to any relevant resource
during news processing.

5.9.4 Hyperlink in labels

NewsML SHOULD support hyperlinks in news-item labels.

Note: original request: "Within NewsLines, allow the use of the <a>
element in addition to the currently allowed Origin element" (M.Wolf -
Reuters)

5.9.5 Line breaks in labels

NewsML SHOULD support a lightweight facility for the representation of
line breaks.

Note: structure in labels allows for better clarity, especially when
they represent notes or instructions.

5.9.6 Variants of Labels

NewsML SHOULD support different labels in various languages in the same
news-item.
 
Note: see also the Internationalization requirement that implies that
some specific tags may also be present for internationalization
purposes. The WG thinks about a generalization to other types of
variants such as 'plain' and 'rich' or 'escaped-html' text.
 
[...]
 
5.13.1 Internationalisation

NewsML MUST be fit for usage with any character set, language, and
writing system. This particularly affects textual content and labels.
 
</quote>
 
 
I have no objection to limiting the markup to a specified subset of
XHTML plus anything additional required by the IPTC.
 
I have no objection to providing a second copy of the text, without any
markup, if we can design an elegant XML mechanism.
 
I have no objection to specifying that the processing of marked-up
labels is not part of basic (level 1) conformance.
 
I have no objection to other providers not using markup.
 
I do, however, profoundly object to News providers who do not require
markup in their labels telling other News providers that they should not
be delivering the rich data that their customers require. Reuters has
been delivering marked up headlines for many years (ie long before we
created NewsML and gave it to the IPTC) and we are not going to stop
doing so now.
 
Note that creating IPTC clones of XHTML markup would directly contradict
the unanimously approved Business Requirements:
 
<quote>
 
5.12 Compatibility with other standards

5.12.1 Support for and conformance with non-IPTC standards

1) NewsML SHOULD be consistent with widely adopted techniques and
published international standards and recommendations from other
standards bodies.

2) The IPTC SHOULD liaise with other standards bodies as appropriate.

3) The IPTC SHOULD consider the incorporation of relevant new or updated
standards into NewsML as they become available.

4) In addition NewsML SHOULD target maximum leverage from utilities,
components and tools which are widely available for its processing.
 
</quote>
 
 
[1] http://www.newsml.org/pages/intro_newsml2.php
 
Misha Wolf
Standards Manager
Product and Platform Architecture Group
Reuters


 
 
 

 
 
 
 


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