Using XMLSchema-instance attributes in RDF/XML Syntax

Hi all,

I posted the following to www-rdf-comments recently, but it didn't generate
any comments or followup, so I am posting here to see what happens :-). 
Does what I am proposing make sense, is it too simplistic, or am I just
missing something?

---

I have been trying to figure out how I can use the various
XMLSchema-instance attributes (especially xsi:type, but also xsi:nil,
xsi:schemaLocation, etc.) in an RDF/XML document.  I want to create valid
RDF/XML, but at the same time I want to be able to validate at least
portions of the RDF/XML using XML Schema.  Some of my XML Schemas require
the use of the xsi:type attribute in the instance documents in order to
validate.  However, RDF insists on treating these xsi:attributes as RDF
property attributes which causes the RDF to be invalid.

I can understand this in the original RDF M&S since it predates XML Schema
by a year or so, but I am surprised to see no mention of this issue in the
newest "RDF/XML Syntax Specification."

I have seen some of the discussions in the various lists of using xsi:type
for data typing in RDF.  I don't claim to understand most of the issues
associated with this, but I would like to humbly suggest that at the very
least there should be some language in the "RDF/XML Syntax Specification" to
the effect that attributes in the XMLSchema-instance namespace should be
ignored by RDF parsers, similar to what is done with the xml* attributes.

Thanks,
        Tom
-- 
Thomas Habing
Research Programmer, Digital Library Projects
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
155 Grainger Engineering Library Information Center, MC-274
thabing@uiuc.edu, (217) 244-4425
http://dli.grainger.uiuc.edu

Received on Tuesday, 20 August 2002 17:20:32 UTC