Change draw:formula and anim:formula to use ";" functionparameter separators and permit namespaces?

["David A. Wheeler" <dwheeler@dwheeler.com>]

David Faure said:
> For what it's worth, we also use ";" in KSpread (KOffice's spreadsheet).

Okay, that's useful information.

Okay, here's my request: can the OASIS draft specification
for draw:formula and anim:formula be changed ever
so slightly (in sections 9.5.5 and 13.3.2) so that:
1. Semicolon (";") instead of comma (",") is used as
    a function separator?
2.  They begin with either "namespace:" or
    "=" for the default formula syntax, just like table:formula
    (and as implied for text:formula)?

With those two changes, I think I can unify all the
various "formula" attributes into a single clean language,
which would be a boon to both implementations and users.
Sections 9.5.5 and 13.3.2 require that parameters
be separated using COMMAS not SEMICOLONS,
yet the spreadsheet formulas (a FAR more common use
for formulas) seems to use SEMICOLONS as separators.
And both KSpread and OOo use semicolons in the
user interface, since semicolons work the same way
regardless of the locale.

This would be a really tiny change in the spec.
In practice, I'll bet few documents even use the multi-parameter
values in draw:formula and anim:formula, so the transition
probably wouldn't even be noticed by many.
Implementations could support reading both "," and ";"
during a transitional period for draw:formula and anim:formula.
Since draw:formula and anim:formula are less commonly used than
spreadsheet formulas, so it makes sense to try to line them
up NOW to match the format of the more-common
spreadsheet formulas.

There are more complicated "support multiple things"
schemes possible, but there are advantages to having
simple, consistent approaches throughout the whole thing.

--- David A. Wheeler