RE: Official ISO 639 changes

Elliotte Rusty Harold wrote:
> Has anybody noticed that XML 1.0 requires 2-letter and forbids
> three-letter language codes? From section 2.1.2 of the XML 1.0 spec:
> ...
> I think XML needs another erratum here to fix this.

There is one in the works, but no agreement yet.

Some think than XML parsers should not validate the content of xml:lang and
just pass it to the application.  The spec would be understood to just say
that the semantics are from RFC 1766 (or its eventual successor with
3-letter codes).

Others think that it is important for parsers to validate xml:lang.  Adding
3-letter codes then means a substantive change to the spec which may have to
wait for XML 1.1 (or whatever the next version is).

Opinions welcome.

--
François Yergeau

Received on Tuesday, 25 April 2000 15:35:11 UTC