Non-normative status of schema - negative consequences for interoperability

To the W3C XML Linking Working Group - www-xml-linking-comments@w3.org

Please note that this e-mail is sent in a personal capacity, not as a
representative of XBRL International or any other body.

In response to the request for "Any feedback on implementation and use of
this specification ... " at http://www.w3.org/TR/xlink11/ I would like to
draw the WG members' attention to the comments I have just posted to the
OASIS "Public comment list for the Customer Information Quality TC" - for
which the archives are publicly available at http://tinyurl.com/nlg4u and my
specific comment at http://tinyurl.com/ow8ff

Complementing David vun Kannon's earlier comments to this list (with which I
agree but to which there have been no responses so far on this list) the
publication of a schema for the XLink 1.1 specification is a welcome step
forward from the situation in which implementers found themselves when using
the 1.0 version. However, I respectfully suggest to the WG that the eventual
schema for the 1.1 release be made normative so as to guarantee that
(conforming) implementations do not suffer the same interoperability issues
that have been experienced with the 1.0 version.

As more and more other standards start to use the XLink standard I believe
that this will increasingly become a matter of concern, and forward thinking
on the part of the WG at this stage to prevent this from happening will
enhance the quality and acceptance of this powerful standard.

Thank you

Hugh Wallis

Received on Friday, 9 June 2006 15:54:04 UTC