Namespaces need versioning

[Charles Reitzel]

I missed a week and was just catching up.  I came across this from Andrew
Layman and felt a need to respond.

> >Namespaces need versioning.  URIs can easily include date
> >codes like "02Nov1997"; W3C itself uses such a scheme, as
> >you can see by looking at versions of the namespace spec.

Yes, the FPI and/or URL needs versioning.  With a decent namespace spec, the
prefix used in documents should not.  The fact that the prefix is, for all
practical purposes, a public identifier, controlled by the DTD author, and
tied to a specific verion of the DTD, prevents document authors from
changing DTD versions without rewriting their documents.  - Not useful.

The original namespace WD did not have these flaws.  About once a week, a
new side effect of the current namespace WD causes grief among folks on this
list.  I would breathe a sigh of relief if the syntax from the original WD
was reinstated, with the addition of scoping rules per the second WD.
Better yet, incorporate namespaces into XML proper (Wither 1.1?) with a
<!NAMESPACE> tag.

The document author should be able use the prefix as shorthand for a
specific DTD fragment by declaring it once within a local DTD file.  The
author can then manage the version of an external DTD fragment used by a
whole document base by changing a single line in that file!  - Useful.

Best regards,
Charles Reitzel
Independent Consultant




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