>>>>> "NC" == Nicholas Clark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: NC> Have I misunderstood you if I suggest that "two or more" is actually a NC> continuous range of representation from NC> 1 (contiguous linear) string data with 0 or more attribute attached to each NC> character where the string's text is the backbone NC> [and the global and local order of the characters in string is crucial NC> to the value and equality with other variables] NC> 2 structured data (eg XML) where the string's text is just part of the data NC> held in the structure, and you could sort the data in different ways NC> without changing its value NC> Are those end members in a continuum? or are hybrids of the 2 impossible? NC> Am I barking up the wrong tree completely? That's one way of looking at it. But I'm more inclined to think of the structured data type as a layer above the raw bits. I see the association of attributes with the underlying data as an extra 'service'. If for no other reason, there are many ways of having the attributes distribute across, deletions, additions, and moves. That is a policy decision that should not be done at the perl internal level. <chaim> -- Chaim Frenkel Nonlinear Knowledge, Inc. [EMAIL PROTECTED] +1-718-236-0183
