Re: How to Version XML Applications

I agree with what Tim said:

/ Tim Bray <tbray@textuality.com> was heard to say:
| I suggested SHOULD NOT, not MUST NOT.  Changing the namespace of a
| vocabulary is highly disruptive to applications and is best avoided to
| the extent possible.  Versioning is (usually) not a good reason to
| make such a change. -Tim

/ "Dare Obasanjo" <dareo@microsoft.com> was heard to say:
| Does this mean that the namespace of a given XML vocabulary should never
| change? 

But I think one could go a step further in answer to your question.

From the point of view of applications that examine the namespace name
and local name of an element to determine the vocabulary to which it
belongs, it isn't simply a "should never", it's a "can never".

To those applications, if you change the namespace name, you haven't
changed the namespace of the vocabulary, you've *changed the
vocabulary* by definition.

That may be a lot more painful than you'd like for a transition from
V1.0 to V1.1.

                                        Be seeing you,
                                          norm

-- 
Norman.Walsh@Sun.COM    | Why shouldn't things be largely absurd,
XML Standards Architect | futile, and transitory? They are so, and we
Sun Microsystems, Inc.  | are so, and they and we go very well
                        | together.--Santayana

Received on Friday, 13 September 2002 14:20:36 UTC