XML Torture Test: Parsers Fail

[David Brownell]

Elliotte Rusty Harold wrote:
> 
> I think what this whole mess is showing, given the widely varying problems
> with so many parsers, is that validation is not nearly as simple as it
> seems, especially when the validators are asked to handle large files.

Actually, the IE5 bug doesn't relate to validation ... :-)

I think this really reflects a general need for better conformance
testing.  I know that Sun has invested a considerable amount of
effort in complying with the XML 1.0 specification.  When we run
other parsers through our test suite the results don't always look
very good at all.

That is one of the problems that led us to write our own XML processor:
the others did not conform well enough to the specification, which
quickly leads to interoperabilty problems, undermining XML as an open
platform level standard.

At this time I know of four sets of test cases for evaluating
conformance with the XML 1.0 specification.  The OASIS working
group on XML conformance is integrating these:

	- Of course, James Clark's XMLTEST suite ... good basic
	  coverage for well-formedness, and some output tests;

	- Fuji Xerox test cases ... for vendors who want to handle
	  the Japanese market, some characters and encodings are key;

	- Sun's test cases ... primarily to test validation, but
	  there are a bunch of other cases that are covered;

	- OASIS tests ... good coverage of a number of grammar
	  rules, not yet generally available.

Does anyone know of any other generally available sets of test
cases?  Or have any tests cases they'd like to make generally
available?  If so, please contact me!

- Dave

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