xml:ids discardable - what!? (ODF 1.2CD01)

["Alex Brown" <alexb@griffinbrown.co.uk>]

Dear all,

In 18.920 we learn:

----b
All implementations that are OpenDocument consumers and producers should preserve any xml:id attribute and its value when present on any of the following elements [list follows]
----e

Why only "should" preserve?!

The implication of this is that processors are free to strip or alter the IDs within an ODF document.

Since many internal references (and, in any serious workflow) many external references will rely on ID values for integrity this behaviour is fatal for any sane notion of document processing.

PROPOSAL. xml:id values, as the primary means of identifying elements in ODF documents, must be respected and preserved by ODF processors, and this needs to be made clear in the ODF spec.