Namespacing SMIL attributes

I would also like to raise the question as to why, if SMIL elements are 
to be namespaced within XHTML, SMIL attributes on XHTML elements are 
also not to be namespaced (e.g,. the Timing attributes on <body/>)? It 
would seem to me that a namespace should be restricted to the elements 
and attributes defined for the original specification.

My thought is that original specifications should anticipate for 
expansion by always explicitly allowing namespaced attributes or even 
children (e.g., at least anticipate expansion of children into generic 
containers like <div/> or <span/> or wherever they might be useful, such 
as in the <head/>)), with expansion being performed with namespaces. I 
think that besides allowing for third-party expansion, this approach 
should make it easier for applications to sanitize input, as they could 
safely and conveniently whitelist an entire namespace (blacklisting only 
the portions they didn't wish to allow) without fear of the namespace 
being expanded in the future. Otherwise, applications concerned with 
security are burdened with whitelisting all possible elements, rather 
than being able to safely use a blacklist approach.

thank you,
Brett Zamir

Received on Wednesday, 18 March 2009 02:20:23 UTC