Re: COMPLEXITY BIG ISSUE

[David RR Webber <Gnosis_@compuserve.com>]

Message text written by Christopher Ferris
>
I think that it is key that we go with what we've got and not be dependent
upon
that which isn't ready for prime time.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Chris',

Here in lies the rub - unfortunately what we have (XML V1.0) is not
adequate to 
do all of the job - 80%, yes, 100% no.  Here's some forinstances:  EDI code
tables, EDI code lists, version control, datatyping and picture masks,
class
definitions and re-use, un-ordered element lists, AND conditional element 
lists, open elements, and more.  Of course these are all in that 20%
bracket
and your mileage may vary on how important you consider these.  

Ironically, the bigger piece I've been seeing is XLink and XPointer -
finally
(well overdue) we should see a recommendation on this next month.  For
my money I'd like to get that in place - in the parsers - and all the good
things that brings - particularly multi-lingual support and 'Bizcodes' 
mechanisms.  This stuff is then in-the-bank and will give us a better 
understanding of the final feature set needed from Schemas.

OK - so the key thing here is to NOT spoil the brew.  In closing the gap
on the 20% which will give us the Global inteoperable toolset that we
seek - we need to be very careful that we have a Schema system that
is easy to use, promotes excellent practices in systems implementation,
and does not require band-aids and Mr.Fixit code everywhere on a 
global scale.   Think about it - people in Africa, Asia, S,.America and
Europe
will be using this - so I'm not happy with a system that's only useable by
an
elite in California.   Even a twelve year old should be able to do this -
that's
what made HTML so successful.

These are the measures I'm seeing are sorely lacking in
evaluation of the current drafts.   And that's OK - in a sense you have to
get a draft - then come back and hit it hard with these 'cost of use'
factors
and then go back - tear out peices, and make other pieces better to 
ensure you have this completely right.

DW.