Alternatives for new specifications of context

["G. Ken Holman" <gkholman@CraneSoftwrights.com>]

Hi folks,

Okay, before I make my code changes I'd like to address Paul's two 
concerns regarding duplicate element/attribute names, and two ways to 
specify context.

Here is the status quo, where the first is an attribute (the others 
are elements)document-wide, the second is a union, the third is 
typical, the fourth needs more specific context than the third, the 
fifth is document-wide and a union:

A:
   <Contexts>
     <Context item="@currencyID" values="currency"/>
     <Context item="cbc:CountrySubentityCode"
              context="cac:BuyerCustomerParty"
              values="provinces states"/>
     <Context item="cbc:CountrySubentityCode"
              context="cac:SellerSupplierParty"
              values="states"/>
     <Context item="cbc:ID" xpath="cac:TaxCategory/cbc:ID"
              values="tax-ids"/>
     <Context item="cbc:PaymentMeansCode"
              values="payments additional_payments"/>
   </Contexts>

Option B: - changing only the element names to avoid ambiguity:

   <Associations>
     <Association item="@currencyID" values="currency"/>
     <Association item="cbc:CountrySubentityCode"
                  context="cac:BuyerCustomerParty"
                  values="provinces states"/>
     <Association item="cbc:CountrySubentityCode"
                  context="cac:SellerSupplierParty"
                  values="states"/>
     <Association item="cbc:ID" xpath="cac:TaxCategory/cbc:ID"
                  values="tax-ids"/>
     <Association item="cbc:PaymentMeansCode"
                  values="payments additional_payments"/>
   </Associations>

Option C: - removing context= (necessitating xpath= when not full 
document context) and keeping <Context>:

   <Contexts>
     <Context item="@currencyID" values="currency"/>
     <Context item="cbc:CountrySubentityCode"
              xpath="cac:BuyerCustomerParty//cbc:CountrySubentityCode"
              values="provinces states"/>
     <Context item="cbc:CountrySubentityCode"
              xpath="cac:SellerSupplierParty//cbc:CountrySubentityCode"
              values="states"/>
     <Context item="cbc:ID" xpath="cac:TaxCategory/cbc:ID"
              values="tax-ids"/>
     <Context item="cbc:PaymentMeansCode"
              values="payments additional_payments"/>
   </Contexts>

To recap the need for item=, recall that an application needs to know 
the name of the focus information item and whether or not it is an 
attribute.  This cannot easily be distilled from the XPath address in 
the event the XPath address has predicates or multiple steps.  One of 
the reasons I came up with context= was to avoid having to enter the 
focus item's name twice, for fear that it left open the opportunity 
for typographical errors (which is still a risk for xpath= but that 
would be used far less than context=).

My personal preference is A, then B, then C.

Can I get feedback on this as soon as possible, please, so that I can 
finish up the documentation?

Thanks!

. . . . . . . . . . . . Ken

--
Comprehensive in-depth XSLT2/XSL-FO1.1 classes: Austin TX,Jan-2008
World-wide corporate, govt. & user group XML, XSL and UBL training
RSS feeds:     publicly-available developer resources and training
G. Ken Holman                 mailto:gkholman@CraneSoftwrights.com
Crane Softwrights Ltd.          http://www.CraneSoftwrights.com/m/
Box 266, Kars, Ontario CANADA K0A-2E0    +1(613)489-0999 (F:-0995)
Male Cancer Awareness Nov'07  http://www.CraneSoftwrights.com/m/bc
Legal business disclaimers:  http://www.CraneSoftwrights.com/legal