Namespaces: prefixes vs. no prefixes

[John Cowan]

Ron Bourret wrote:
 
> This is undoubtedly a no-brainer, but it has just now occurred to me that the
> following two DTDs are almost certainly not the same.
> 
> <!ELEMENT A (B+)>
> <!ELEMENT B (#PCDATA)>
> 
> and
> 
> <!ELEMENT FOO:A (FOO:B+)>
> <!ELEMENT FOO:B (#PCDATA)>

IMHO they are not, since the current namespace draft provides no
way to declare the meaning of unprefixed element names.

> One of the consequences of this is that if namespace prefixes are used in a DTD,
> they must be used in both the instance file and in the application.

"In the DTD iff in the instance" is certainly true.  The application
need not use them if it uses something similar to my namespace
prefix remapper.  Perhaps I should have an ability to declare a
prefix to be attached to unprefixed names, but I don't really see
the point of it.

-- 
John Cowan	http://www.ccil.org/~cowan		cowan at ccil.org
	You tollerday donsk?  N.  You tolkatiff scowegian?  Nn.
	You spigotty anglease?  Nnn.  You phonio saxo?  Nnnn.
		Clear all so!  'Tis a Jute.... (Finnegans Wake 16.5)

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