xliff message

Subject: Re: [xliff] issue 3 (new elements "default" and "defaults"): requestfor clarification
From: John Reid <jreid@novell.com>
To: xliff@lists.oasis-open.org
Date: Sun, 29 Dec 2002 11:46:09 -0700
Proposal: Add defaultable attributes from <trans-unit> to <group> and
explicitly state the inheritance of such values.

The following attributes are found in the <trans-unit> element but not
the <group> element. These attributes are all valid candidates for
setting at the <group> level. Thus, the proposal is to add these
attributes to group for the express purpose of setting defaults for all
child <trans-unit>s.

charclass
maxbytes
maxheight
maxwidth
minbytes
minheight
minwidth
size-unit
translate
reformat

The attributes of the <trans-unit> that have not been considered for
the <group> element are listed below.

approved
phase-name
tu-state (proposed)

In the following example the size-unit and maxwidth attributes
illustrate the proposal. Within the <body> a <group> element is placed
that encompasses the set of <trans-unit> elements to which these
attributes apply. For all, the size-unit is "char" and all but
<trans-unit id="4"> the maxwidth is "2000". For <trans-unit id="4"> the
maxwidth is "225".

<body>
  <group size-unit="char" maxwidth="2000">
    <trans-unit id="1">...</trans-unit>
    <trans-unit id="2">...</trans-unit>
    <trans-unit id="3">...</trans-unit>

    <trans-unit id="4" maxwidth="225">...</trans-unit>

    <trans-unit id="5">...</trans-unit>
  </group>
</body>

In the previous example all <trans-unit> elements are enclosed; however
a smaller set could be defined. We can override the default values for a
set of <trans-unit>s by creating a <group> within a <group>. In the
following example, the <trans-unit>s from 6 through 9 still have the
default  size-unit value of "char" but the maxwidth default is
overridden with the value of "256".

<body>
  <group size-unit="char" maxwidth="2000">
    <trans-unit id="1">...</trans-unit>
    <trans-unit id="2">...</trans-unit>
    <trans-unit id="3">...</trans-unit>
    <trans-unit id="4" maxwidth="225">...</trans-unit>
    <trans-unit id="5">...</trans-unit>
    <group maxwidth="256">
      <trans-unit id="6">...</trans-unit>
      <trans-unit id="7">...</trans-unit>
      <trans-unit id="8">...</trans-unit>
      <trans-unit id="9">...</trans-unit>
    </group>
  </group>
</body>

Thus, using the <group> element to define defaults gives us a great
deal of freedom. 

cheers,
john