Re: The URI of a RDDL "nature"

Jonathan Borden writes:

> primarily because this goes the ideas that 
> the nature of an XML document might be 
> determined by the namespace of the root element.

Well, I think that the nature of an XML document may well be determined, 
or at least bounded, by the >QName< of the root element.  I don't think 
the namespace does it. Consider a single namespace that includes two or 
more element QNames both of which were designed to be used as root 
elements.  For example, I might in the same namespace (shown with prefix 
ns:) have:

        <ns:purchaseOrder>
        ....
        </ns:purchaseOrder>

and also

        <ns:invoice>
        ....
        </ns:invoice>

Surely it's wrong to say that the nature of these documents is determined 
by their namespaces.  One's a purchase order, the other an invoice.  Both 
are in the same namespace.  I think RDDL should be capable of capturing 
these separate natures.

Now, in the case of:

        <soap:envelope>
          <soap:body>
            <ns:purchaseOrder>
           ....
            </ns:purchaseOrder>
          </soap:body>
        </soap:envelope>

I think that the QName <soap:envelope> bounds the nature to being a SOAP 
envelope, but it does not fully distinguish between a SOAP envelope that's 
an invoice or a purchase order.  Whether RDDL should account for this 
second level of refinement I'm not sure. Saying it's an envelope is 
correct as far as it goes.

--------------------------------------
Noah Mendelsohn 
IBM Corporation
One Rogers Street
Cambridge, MA 02142
1-617-693-4036
--------------------------------------

Received on Tuesday, 17 January 2006 23:51:22 UTC