Re: Extension/Extensibility examples in W3C Specifications

At 03:16 PM 5/4/2004 +0200, Dominique Hazaël-Massieux wrote:
>[dropping www-qa-wg, no need to cross post]
>
>Hi Lynne,
>
>Le mar 04/05/2004 à 14:19, Lynne Rosenthal a écrit :
> > This is in contrast to Mark's view (which I finally understand) - His view
> > is that, if you use the defined mechanism, then it isn't an
> > extension.
>
>Thanks for this clarification ; for what it's worth, this is probably
>the first time I see "extension" used in this meaning ; are there any
>references that could incite us to use this one, rather the one which I
>think is more common in W3C?

I think it all boils down to the definition of "extensions".  If 
"extensions" are the inclusion of additional features, rather than 
functions, as Lofton has argued for (and I agree) then if a feature is 
already present to handle additional functionality, it's not an 
extension.  Extensions are new ways of doing new things.  I believe one 
reference is CGM. CGM has GDPs and Escapes to allow for additional 
functionality.  If an implementer used a GDP or an Escape, he was not 
providing an extension, in my opinion.  I'll (or maybe Lynne will) try to 
check the verbiage in CGM.

Mark


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Mark Skall
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Information Technology Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
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