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Subject: RE: [] or ? for optional
I instantly associate [] with optionality, but only because I use unix-like operating systems, and all of the command line programs use [] for optionality in their --help or manpage. Given what I perceive to be the audience of this spec, I think it will wash. Furthermore, why not have a "conventions" section in the spec explaining it for those who don't get it? Cheers, Matthew MacKenzie XML Global -----Original Message----- From: James Clark Sent: Mon 7/9/2001 7:53 PM To: Murata Makoto; relax-ng@lists.oasis-open.org Cc: Subject: [] or ? for optional --On 10 July 2001 09:38 +0900 Murata Makoto <mura034@attglobal.net> wrote: > James Clark wrote: > >> > - Isn't the type attribute optional for <value>? >> >> Yes. There's a "?" following the attribute value that is intended to >> indicate this. Is there some way I should fix the notation to make this >> clearer? > > Sorry, I looked over the "?". > > I prefer "[" and "]" probably in a big font. That would be more visually obvious, but I wonder how familiar the use of [] for optionality would be to our potential audience. Let's do a little poll. If you read this, please send a message to the list saying whether you are familiar with the use of [] for optionality and would guess that the square brackets in <value [type="NCName"]>string</value> indicate that the attribute is optional. Alternatively we could try to make it harder to miss the ? by adding parentheses <value (type="NCName")?>string</value> James ------------------------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from this elist send a message with the single word "unsubscribe" in the body to: relax-ng-request@lists.oasis-open.org
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