[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > Philippe Verdy scripsit: > > XML files are definitely NOT plain text (if this was the case, > > then it would be forbidden to interpret "<" as a special markup > > character instead of the standard Unicode base character with > > its associated glyph)... > > You might as well say that C code is not plain text because it too is > subject to special canons of interpretation. But both XML/HTML/SGML > and the various programming languages are plain text: they are written > with plain-text editors, manipulated with plain-text tools, and can be > rendered with plain-text renderers. The fact that other things can be > done with them is neither here nor there.
The fact that plain-text renderers are used is not relevant here as any normalization the renderer would use is hidden in the background and the renderer does not expose the transformations it makes to the editor itself. Also, noboby uses an editor that performs implicit normalization of text when saving file. If there's such an editor that can do it on the fly, this option should be disabled for source files. It's best for editors to allow the user select the parts in the text to normalize, and then apply normalization only in these selected parts. A more simple editor could implement a global normalization, but this should be an explicit editing action from the user. For various reasons, I would not like to use any Unicode plain-text editor that implicitly normalizes the text without asking me, to work on programming source files or XML or HTML files. But I will accept it, if the editor really understands the language or XML syntax (and exhibits it to the user with syntax coloring). __________________________________________________________________ << ella for Spam Control >> has removed Spam messages and set aside Newsletters for me You can use it too - and it's FREE! http://www.ellaforspam.com
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