Elements output as XML with HTML output method

Hello,

     According to Section 16.2 of the XSL Transformations (XSLT) 
Recommendation Version 1.0 [1]:

[[
The html output method should not output an element differently from the 
xml output method unless the expanded-name of the element has a null 
namespace URI; an element whose expanded-name has a non-null namespace URI 
should be output as XML.
]]

     In the preceding, does "element" refer to an element node in the 
result tree or to an element in the resulting HTML?  In other words, does 
the requirement that an element with a non-null namespace URI be output as 
XML apply only to the element node or to its children and associated 
attribute and namespace nodes as well?


     If it refers to the element node only, that leads to a number of 
questions about output processing:

o Does it mean only that the special rules described for HTML 4.0 empty 
elements and for script, style and head elements are to be ignored?  Or 
does it further mean that the entire start and end tag (or XML empty 
element tag, if appropriate) should be emitted in an XML style, which 
means that the less than character (<) in an attribute value and any 
ampersand character (&) preceding a left brace character ({) should be 
emitted as an entity reference?  Or does it mean that only some portion of 
the start and end tags (or XML empty element tag) should be emitted in an 
XML style, and if so, which portion?

o Should default values of the xsl:output element that are appropriate for 
XML processing apply for such elements?  For example, would a default 
version of 4.0 make sense for emitting XML?  Does the indent attribute 
have a default value of "no" for that part of the output processing, or 
does the default of "yes" that is applicable to the XML output method 
apply to that portion of the output?


     If it refers to an element in the resulting HTML, the same questions 
apply as above, and in addition the following questions:

o Does the cdata-section-elements attribute apply?  It's not mentioned in 
the description of the HTML output method in section 16.2, and according 
to Section 16 of XSLT 1.0 [2], "If the semantics of an attribute are not described for an output method, 
then it is not applicable to that output method."  Does the fact that cdata-section-elements is not described for the HTML 
output method take precedence over the fact that it is described for the 
XML output method in this context?

Thanks,

Henry
[1] http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt#section-HTML-Output-Method
[2] http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt#output
------------------------------------------------------------------
Henry Zongaro      Xalan development
IBM SWS Toronto Lab   Tie Line 969-6044;  Phone (905) 413-6044
mailto:zongaro@ca.ibm.com

Received on Friday, 3 January 2003 11:58:35 UTC