- From: Henry S. Thompson <ht@cogsci.ed.ac.uk>
- Date: 21 Feb 2000 16:13:10 +0000
- To: www-xml-infoset-comments@w3.org
In order to preclude misunderstanding and provide for clean
interfacing with other standards, e.g. XML Schema, please make
consistent use of words such as 'empty', 'null' and 'null string'.
There is a range of usage in the current draft, particularly with
regard to the various properties which may contain a URI. It would be
helpful if these were lined up, so that absence was always signalled
by the same construct, not, as now, by circumlocution ([namespace URI]
of ElementII, AttributeII); 'null' (e.g. [base URI] of EntityII);
'null string' ([prefix] and [namespace URI] of Namespace Declaration)
(this is _surely_ wrong, as it sits halfway between 'empty' and
'null').
Personally, I would prefer 'empty' for strings, sets, etc. and 'null'
for absence, so all the above URI properties would be described with
'null' as one option.
ht [personally, not officially]
--
Henry S. Thompson, HCRC Language Technology Group, University of Edinburgh
W3C Fellow 1999--2001, part-time member of W3C Team
2 Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh EH8 9LW, SCOTLAND -- (44) 131 650-4440
Fax: (44) 131 650-4587, e-mail: ht@cogsci.ed.ac.uk
URL: http://www.ltg.ed.ac.uk/~ht/
Received on Monday, 21 February 2000 11:13:16 UTC