[forwarding for Jimmy, he's having mail problems]
From: Jimmy Cerra <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
I'm a little confused by the type attribute for atom:content and other
elements. This the following correct?
* When @type="html" then the content of the element is a xsd:string
[1] of an HTML DIV element plus optional insignificant whitespace
around it. Which version of HTML is defined? How do you
differentiate between HTML 4.01, HTML 3.2, the upcoming HTML 5, or
"nonstandard" HTML (like with marquee elements)?
* When @type="xhtml" then the content of the element is a xhtml:div
XML fragment plus optional insignificant whitespace around it. Again
which version of XHTML is defined? How do you differentiate between
XHTML 1.0, 1.1, or 2.0? Since XHTML 2.0 may have a new namespace, so
will you allow that? How does requiring XHTML:div impact which XHTML
modules are required (I have a guess)? And what about exotic versions
like "XHTML+MathML+SVG" or "XHTML 1.1 plus MathML 2.0"? (Some blogs
actually use it "XHTML 1.1 plus MathML 2.0"!)
* When @type="text" then the content of the element is a xsd:string of
a text/plain document.
* When @type="mime/type" [2], ONLY for atom:content, then the content
(or src document) is that type of document. Why not allow other
elements to use this? What about content that isn't compatible with
XML 1.0 (like XML 1.1, Turtle, RTF, PNG); should it be entity
encoded/put into cdata section like HTML? What should one do when
encountering these situations?
Does that mean that if you use "application/xhtml+xml", you can do
(rest of feed omitted for brevity):
<atom:content type="application/xhtml+xml">
<html xmlns="...">
<head><title>...</title></head>
<body> ... </body>
</html>
</atom:content>
How do you specify xml-stylesheets processing instructions, doctype
and xml declarations, and other data about the content? PIs may be a
non-issue if they are not read by the XML processor for the Atom feed;
although, that isn't guaranteed.
I think you should at least allow @type="xml", as others have
suggested for xml 1.0 content, along with adopting XSLT's output
attributes (perhaps not using @method or @media-type). This would
ease the pain with XML, and all media/types for @type require the
content to be xsd:string valid (that is, entity encoded or using CDATA
sections).
Sorry for the boatload of questions.
--
Jimmy Cerra
http://pawsgroup.blogspot.com
[1] That is, a text node in the XML tree.
[2] A mime type, noting the exception in 4.1.3.1.
