- From: Ron Daniel <rdaniel@metacode.com>
- Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2000 09:25:03 -0700
- To: "'caro@Adobe.COM'" <caro@Adobe.COM>, www-rdf-interest@w3.org
I'd like to thank Perry Caro for posting the FAQs and answers. Looks like a good start for the FAQ. A couple of comments. First, Perry has used "I" a lot, and expressed his personal opinion on things. I like that, but it may be that the answers should be credited to individuals when they express personal opinions. Second, I'd like to suggest a modification of his answer on the DTD question. He said: > Q: Can I use a DTD with RDF (or, with a more hostile tone, WHY ISN'T there > a > DTD for RDF)? > > A: You can certainly define a trivial DTD for the elements and attributes > in > the RDF namespace, but if your objective is to use parser enforced > validation, an XML version 1.0 DTD won't cut it. RDF uses attribute and > element namespace expanded names as data, which makes traditional > validation > impractical. Higher-level validation is possible through RDF Schema and > domain/schema specific validators. > > I'd suggest an answer more like: A: Yes, you can use a DTD with RDF. Whether it really buys you anything depends on what you are trying to do. If you are trying to write general-purpose RDF processing software, it doesn't do very much for you. RDF uses attribute and element namespace expanded names as data, which makes traditional validation impractical. Higher-level validation is possible through RDF Schema and domain/schema specific validators. However, if you are trying to define a metadata format for your own use, you can define it in an RDF-compliant way and define a DTD to validate it. The DTD will not be suitable for validating arbitrary RDF that comes from anywhere, but will provide a level of syntax checking that your own files are following your own format. This is a very pragmatic and useful thing to do. Best regards, Ron Daniel Jr. Metacode Technologies, Inc. 139 Townsend Street, Suite 100 San Francisco, CA 94107 415.836.7813 fax 415.222.0150 rdaniel@metacode.com .
Received on Wednesday, 5 April 2000 12:25:11 UTC