Re: [xml-dev] whitespace in 1.1

Richard Tobin scripsit:

> I don't know why it is for sure.  The original wording of the line-end
> normalization section in 1.0 was different (it was changed because it
> was subtly inconsistent), and it may have seemed more reasonable at the
> time.  For normal use, it makes no difference whether CR is in S or not.

The trouble is that as 1.0 was written, the as-if line-end normalizations
are required only in content that is returned to the application, and
whitespace within tags is normally not so returned.  This was the point
of issue Cowan-01, about which there still seems to be some doubt.

In fact, maybe this should become a 1.0 erratum.  The wording of section
2.11 is ambiguous:

	 the characters passed to an application by the XML processor
	 must be as if the XML processor normalized all line breaks
	 in external parsed entities (including the document entity)
	 on input, before parsing

Bogus line endings in the document would not affect "the characters pased
to an application", they would make the document ill-formed and so not
a document.  So perhaps it should be "the XML processor must behave as
if" instead.

I have cc'ed the Blueberry and XML 1.0 errata mail drops, and sent a copy
to the Core WG as well.

-- 
John Cowan           http://www.ccil.org/~cowan              cowan@ccil.org
To say that Bilbo's breath was taken away is no description at all.  There
are no words left to express his staggerment, since Men changed the language
that they learned of elves in the days when all the world was wonderful.
        --_The Hobbit_

Received on Saturday, 15 March 2003 18:57:44 UTC