Re: [office-comment] <text:s> element (etc) needs to be removed (ODF1.2)

[Patrick Durusau <patrick@durusau.net>]

Alex,

Alex Brown wrote:
> The <text:s> element is used by ODF to represent space characters in
> text content.
>
> Instead, the standard mechanism for representing space characters should
> be used: i.e. space characters.
>
> The current mechanism is confusing and contradicts/subverts the existing
> Unicode-based mechanism of XML.
>
> The same goes for <text:tab> and <text:line-break>
>
>   
I think you are missing the interaction of these elements with the 
white-space handling rules for paragraphs declared in 5.1.1. There are 
specific white-space rules for paragraphs and other elements. More 
specifically the rule is "collapse" so simply using additional "space 
characters" as you say, will not provide the desired result.

Granted, this is one of those cases where I personally would prefer 
draconian rules that force users into good behavior using styles but 
successful applications (and I suspect formats) accommodate the desires 
of users, even ones that we don't experience ourselves. ;-)

Would the "confusion" you sense be reduced if we added text that 
specifically mentions the representation of space, tab, line-break by 
elements as avoiding the application of the white-space handling rule? 
They are currently subclauses of the white-space handling clause. That 
seems self-evident to me but I am way too close to the text to be a 
reliable judge on that score.

Hope you are having a great day!

Patrick

-- 
Patrick Durusau
patrick@durusau.net
Chair, V1 - US TAG to JTC 1/SC 34
Convener, JTC 1/SC 34/WG 3 (Topic Maps)
Editor, OpenDocument Format TC (OASIS), Project Editor ISO/IEC 26300
Co-Editor, ISO/IEC 13250-1, 13250-5 (Topic Maps)