I'd like to propose an alternative to atom:modified? I've mentioned this a couple of times before over the last two years, but anyway:
The only properties of atom:modified we're interested in are: 1) That different versions have different dates 2) Sorting chronologically puts the versions in the correct order
This is to say, the absolute value of the date is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is whether it is before, after or the same as other dates that have appeared on a particular entry.
Proposal:
atom:version
atom:version is a Date Construct that determines the chronology of instances of atom:entry. Each time an atom:entry is modified, atom:version MUST be given a chronologically later value than other values than have appeared in any atom:entry with the same value for atom:id.
The value does not need to correspond to any particular event in an entries life-cycle. Suitable values include date of last modification, or the date the atom:entry is generated by an Atom producer.
Is this plausible?
Graham
