Re: [xml-dev] The version number in XML documents

At 2:10 PM -0400 7/19/02, John Cowan wrote:
>The XML Core WG solicits public feedback on making an erratum-level
>change to XML 1.0, requiring that if a version number appears in the
>XML declaration, that it must be "1.0".
>

This is an abuse of the errata process. It's not quite as bad as 
declaring that the xmlns prefix is suddenly mapped to  a namespace, 
but it comes close. The XML 1.0 specification is not ambiguous on 
this point. Changing it to say something other than what it now says 
requires a new version of the spec, not an erratum.

>The intention of this proposal is to give XML 1.0 parsers a way to
>reject XML 1.1 documents up front by reason of version incompatibility.
>

This is unnecessary. The very first version of XML 1.0 clearly stated 
that "Processors may signal an error if they receive documents 
labeled with versions they do not support." There is no need to 
change the spec now. If a processor finds it useful to reject an XML 
1.1 document because of the version number, then it is already 
allowed to do so. No errratum is required to permit this.

-- 

+-----------------------+------------------------+-------------------+
| Elliotte Rusty Harold | elharo@metalab.unc.edu | Writer/Programmer |
+-----------------------+------------------------+-------------------+
|          XML in a  Nutshell, 2nd Edition (O'Reilly, 2002)          |
|              http://www.cafeconleche.org/books/xian2/              |
|  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN%3D0596002920/cafeaulaitA/  |
+----------------------------------+---------------------------------+
|  Read Cafe au Lait for Java News:  http://www.cafeaulait.org/      |
|  Read Cafe con Leche for XML News: http://www.cafeconleche.org/    |
+----------------------------------+---------------------------------+

Received on Monday, 22 July 2002 11:47:59 UTC