On Fri, 8 Sep 2006, Ross Gardler wrote: > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > <!ENTITY % local.inline "|xi:include"> > > <!ENTITY % document PUBLIC > > "-//APACHE//ENTITIES Documentation V2.0//EN" > > "document-v20.dtd"> > > %document; > > > > <!ATTLIST document > > xmlns:xi CDATA #FIXED "http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"; > > > > <!ELEMENT xi:include EMPTY> > > <!ATTLIST xi:include > > parse (text|xml) "xml" > > href CDATA #REQUIRED > > encoding CDATA #IMPLIED > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > This works for my purposes. I enable XInclusion by using this doctype > > instead of document-v20.dtd. > > > > If this were to be done as a patch, I suppose the patch would introduce > > a new doctype V2.1, with the xi:include element moved into what would now > > be document-v21.mod. This would be added to catalog.xcat. > > I don't think we need to create a version 2.1 for this to be honest. I > know we *should* but it is an optional element that is 100% backward > compatible. > > Can we just slip it in without causing any upset? Naughty I know, but I > don't have the time to do a "proper job" on this. > > > The exact place(s) where the xi:include element would be permitted might > > be an issue to some. I would add it to link-content.mix.
I've thought about this a bit more. One of the problems here is that adding xi:include elements has unexpected results. If the DTD is extended as above, then the validator will, I think, not check beyond the xi:include element, and so a document may validate even though what is being XIncluded is nonsense. I can write <p><xi:include href="rubbish.xml"/></p> and validation will succeed, because the xi:include element has the pattern required by the DTD even though rubbish.xml isn't XML at all The expected behavior is that the validator recognizes that what is being XIncluded is XML (as it is by default) and goes through to validate that as well, silently replacing the xi:include element with whatever is XIncluded. I think that some parsers do this - perhaps only if an option is set - but most don't. A better approach would be to process the XIncludes before validation, stripping off the xlmns:xi attribute from the document element and replacing xi:includes with whatever they resolve to. This should be cheaper than it might seem: unless the xmlns:xi is present, the document is simply handed on to the validator untouched. -- Jim Dixon [EMAIL PROTECTED] tel +44 117 982 0786 mobile +44 797 373 7881
