attribute lists and namespaces

[Eric Melski]

Hello --

I am having trouble understanding the use of namespaces with respect to
the declaration of attribute lists.  Suppose I have a document like the
following:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE INVOICE [
<!ATTLIST foo:DETAILS descr CDATA "bob">
]>

<INVOICE xmlns="foo">
	<DETAILS>
		<ITEM>neogalactic hyperdrive</ITEM>
	</DETAILS>
</INVOICE>


Notice that I have declared an attribute list for the DETAILS element in
the foo namespace.  My belief is that the descr attribute should then be
included in the list of attributes for the DETAILS element that appears in
the document.  However, I can't find any confirmation that that is the
correct behaviour, and expat seems to disagree with me.  That is, it does
*not* include the descr attribute.  If I explicitly specify the namespace
for the DETAILS element when it is used, ala

<foo:DETAILS> ... </foo:DETAILS>

then expat does include the descr attribute.

My question then, is:  should the descr attribute be included in the
attributes list for the instance of the DETAILS element, since it is a
child of an element that has set a namespace, even though the namespace is
not explicitly set for the DETAILS element itself?

Thanks!

- eric



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