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Subject: Re: [docbook-tc] Email ballot: Publish XML Character Entities WorkingDraft


Norman Walsh <ndw@nwalsh.com> writes:

> Proposed: we publish the XML Character Entities[1] as a public working
> draft. Please respond YEA or NAY to docbook-tc@lists.oasis-open.org
> before Thursday, 07 Mar 2002 at 17:00 EST.
> 
>                                         Be seeing you,
>                                           norm
> 
> [1] http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xmlcharent/entities-2002-02-04.html

Some suggested changes for future versions of the XML character
entities draft that I just want to offer for consideration now while
I'm thinking about them:

1. For accuracy, maybe the document title should just be changed to
   "XML Representation of the Standard SGML Character Entity Sets".
   (Because, for representing the SGML character entities, the
   standard actually defines two different mechanisms: (1) XML
   Character Entity Sets, and (2) an XML Character Element.)

2. It seems like the scope of the standard -- the fact that it defines
   both the XML Character Entity Sets and the XML Character Element --
   should be made more clear earlier in the document. Maybe we could
   strike the last sentence from the 2nd paragraph, and add something
   along the lines of the following paragraphs in place of it:

    There are two issues that make it is necessary to provide a
    standard for XML representation of the characters in these sets.

    A. No XML application can use the SGML entity declarations for the
       characters in the sets, because the SGML entity declarations
       use the specific character data (SDATA) entity type that is not
       supported in XML. To address this issue, this Standard defines
       XML Character Entity Sets that contain alternative XML entity
       declarations for the characters.

    B. Some classes of XML applications totally forbid the occurrence
       of entity declarations in documents. For these applications,
       named character entities are inaccessible, regardless of the
       nature of their declarations. To address this issue, this
       Standard defines an XML Character Element which can (as an
       alternative to the XML Character Entity Sets also defined in
       this Standard) be used as to represent the characters in XML.

3. It might also help to add some specific text to the introduction to
   make it clear that the two mechanisms defined in the standard --
   XML Character Entity Sets and the XML Character Element:

    * do not depend in any way on one another

    * are not meant to be mixed together (that is, users should make
      an either/or choice about which of them to use within any
      specific document instance -- they won't need/want to use both)

4. Maybe section 2 should be titled "XML Character Element" (no
   plural), since it actually defines only one element, "char".






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