[sc34wg3] Part 4: Canonicalization

Martin Bryan sc34wg3@isotopicmaps.org
Tue, 25 Nov 2003 08:01:09 -0000


 Kal

Re earlier comments on 4.1
> > > > In second para change "set to the element" by "a reference to the
> > element"
> > > >
> > >
> > > It is unclear, but I'm not sure that I like using the term
"reference".
> > > How about
> > >
> > > "The value of the [parent] property of an element information item
must
> > > always be the element or document information item of which the
element
> > > information item is a direct child."
> >
> > My problem with this is that it sounds as if the value of the property
must
> > be surround the element. I see this as
[parent="<element>....</element>]. I
> > used reference because what the property should contain is a pointer to
the
> > element, not the element itself.
> >
you wrote:

> Is that because of the phrase "element or document information item" ?
> It should say "element information item or document information item",
> the value is the element information item (or document information
> item), not any serialised form of it.

No. It's "value of" that is giving me the problem. If the value "must ... be
the ... information item" the question arises as to what form does the
information item take. Is it its internal form, its external
(interchangeable form) or is it simply a pointer to where the information is
strored internally? I believe it is the latter in this case. Hence my use of
the terms reference and pointer.

(For the same reason I want position to be used specifically in 4.11 -
because that is not a pointer, but a count into a specific internal list. I
suspect that in many cases the reference in 4.1 will be a count into an
internal list, but in this case we have not said how the list should be
created as we have in 4.11. If you are happy with reference in 4.11 why are
you not happy with it in 4.1?)

Martin