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Subject: RE: [dita] Proposed changes to the xml:lang proposal
OK, if we are removing this completely, I guess the point I'm about to make is moot. But, no, you cannot "use the xml:lang attribute to identify the boundaries...." An attribute cannot identify boundaries. This is what I have been trying to say in this thread. You have to have a (non-empty) element--with a start tag and end tag--to identify boundaries, and then you specify the xml:lang attribute with the appropriate language value on that element's start tag. And I don't care if the audience is non-technical, you are doing no one a favor by using imprecise language. Attributes cannot identify boundaries. paul > -----Original Message----- > From: Gershon L Joseph [mailto:gershon@tech-tav.com] > Sent: Monday, 2006 April 10 13:16 > To: dita@lists.oasis-open.org > Subject: RE: [dita] Proposed changes to the xml:lang proposal > > Actually, the existing Recommended Usage section already > sufficiently explains how different languages are to be > marked up, so I don't see the need to add anything to this > section. I'll simply remove it from the Notes to Vendors section. > > > Best Regards, > Gershon > > -----Original Message----- > From: Gershon L Joseph [mailto:gershon@tech-tav.com] > Sent: Monday, April 10, 2006 8:51 PM > To: 'Eliot Kimber'; dita@lists.oasis-open.org > Cc: 'Grosso, Paul' > Subject: RE: [dita] Proposed changes to the xml:lang proposal > > We discussed this thread at length in today's translation > subcommittee meeting. The suggested rewrites are not in sync > with the W3C and Unicode specs (we have representatives from > both groups on the SC). However, we agree that since > applications cannot correctly read the language from the > characters, we should move this paragraph from the Note to > Vendors section to the Recommended Usage section, and > rephrase it to apply to authors and translators (the humans, > not the machines). Here's the rewrite: > > When working on a document that contains strings of > characters from different languages, the author should use > the xml:lang attribute to identify the boundaries of each language. > > > Best Regards, > Gershon > > -----Original Message----- > From: Eliot Kimber [mailto:ekimber@innodata-isogen.com] > Sent: Monday, April 10, 2006 6:11 PM > To: dita@lists.oasis-open.org > Cc: Grosso, Paul > Subject: Re: [dita] Proposed changes to the xml:lang proposal > > Grosso, Paul wrote: > > That is why I think saying "the language...should be indicated via > > markup" is misleading, because is the string itself (as well as its > > language) that needs to be indicated via markup. > > And just to be a bit more pedantic, I think it would be > clearer and more accurate to say "text" instead of "string". > > While the XML data is held as strings of characters, > semantically when you talk about *language" you are dealing > with "text" rather than strings of characters. > > I would think that the clearest statement would be something like: > > "As a matter of practice, text that is in a language > different from the base language of its container should be > contained in XML markup that uses the xml:lang= attribute to > indicate the text's national language." > > Cheers, > > Eliot > > > >
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