Re: [office] Formula subcommittee status

[robert_weir@us.ibm.com]

Another twist.  Do we want function
names to allow optional namespace prefixes?

I'm thinking that an open spreadsheet
platform will encourage the production of open libraries of extension spreadsheet
functions, for specialized activities like securities analysis, process
control, optical engineering, whatever.  When this happens we'll need
to worry about collisions in function names.  Certainly no extension
should use a name of a ODF-defined function.  But how do we prevent
two custom libraries from using the same name?  One solution is to
allow the function name itself to namespaced.

I think XPath originated this idea as
well.

-Rob

"Bruce D'Arcus" <bruce.darcus@OpenDocument.us>
wrote on 07/21/2006 02:39:17 PM:

> 
> On Jul 21, 2006, at 2:28 PM, David A. Wheeler wrote:
> 
> > If there's a better solution, now would be the time to discuss
it.
> > But since this is already standard practice, and recommended
by the
> > official standard,
> 
> Well, OK then. I didn't know it was already so specified.
> 
> > I think we should proceed as-is.  It works.
> 
> It's just, it seems you end up in really hairy situations if you adopt
> this as a general practice (as opposed to a really narrow one, like
> maybe defining formulas or elements to output).
> 
> For example, how does a processor know whether "re:something"
indicates 
> namespaced content, or whether it's simply content than happens to
have 
> a ":" character?
> 
> We'll be faced with this choice (whether to use GNames or full uris)
> probably in the metadata work, and my understanding has always been
> that it's bad practice to use QNames in this context.
> 
> So we may end up with a situation where they're allowed in some places
> (say formulas) and not elsewhere. Is that fine?
> 
> Bruce
> 
> 
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