3 Element Structure (Clause 7)

Please enter your email address here:

Check boxes to indicate your views on the topics indicated. Vote as often as you want, whenever you want. We'll save one vote (the most recent) per email address. Your vote is not confidential.

Please note that this survey is for informational purposes only. It is not binding on the SGML Work Group or Editorial Review Board.

It is assumed here that clauses relating to concur and link need not be examined here. If XML is to allow either, then parts of this clause should be reviewed again.

• 7.1 defines a prolog (required by 6.2.3) as containing at least one document type declaration, optionally preceded and followed by other document type declarations, comments, and processing instructions.
  
  [Sic TEI; mod. Bas, LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO. Bas, LA, Min, and SL allow only one DTD. MGML makes the document type declaration optional. NSGML applies to document instances, not full documents; it requires a DTD summary, which may be given by a processing instruction or via a command-line program argument. PSGML makes the single DTD optional, and forbids comments before it, to simplify the grammar further. SO proposes to make the DTD optional, and possibly to allow selective omission of element and attribute declarations (partial DTDs).]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	TEI
  	Revise	Bas, LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO
  	Drop
  	Does not apply
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.3 (a) prohibits end-tags for elements with a declared content of empty.
  
  [Sic Bas, LA, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SO, TEI; sil. MGML, SL. SL lists the handling of empty elements as an open problem, and leaves undecided whether to require an end-tag, require empty elements to be declared using a processing instruction, or leave the problem to individual applications.]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	Bas, LA, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SO, TEI
  	Revise
  	Drop
  	Does not apply
  	Don't know	MGML, SL

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.3 (b) prohibits end-tags for elements with an explicit content reference.
  
  [Sic Bas, LA, Min, NSGML, SL, SO; dna MGML, PSGML, TEI. MGML, PSGML, and TEI suppress the conref construct. SO (as noted below) makes conref optional (i.e. allows processors not to support it). The next release of NSL (the NSGML Library) will support conref fully.]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	Bas, LA, Min, NSGML, SL, SO
  	Revise
  	Drop
  	Does not apply	MGML, PSGML, TEI
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.3.1 allows omission of tags "if the omission would not create an ambiguity, and if OMITTAG YES is specified on the SGML declaration" and (by reference to 11.2.2) if the DTD does not forbid the tags' omission.
  
  [Sic Bas, LA; om. MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI.]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	Bas, LA
  	Revise
  	Drop	MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI
  	Does not apply
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.3.1.1 allows start-tag omission when (a) there is only one contextually required element, (b) it has no required attributes, (c) it has a content model (not declared content), and (d) it is not empty. [2]
  
  [Sic Bas, LA; dna MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI.]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	Bas, LA
  	Revise
  	Drop
  	Does not apply	MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.3.1.2 allows end-tag omission when
  • the document entity ends
  • a containing element ends
  • something appears which is not legal in current context
  [3]
  
  [Sic Bas, LA; om. MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI.]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	Bas, LA
  	Revise
  	Drop	MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI
  	Does not apply
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.3.2 defines rules for, and behavior of, data tag minimization.
  
  [Om. Bas, LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI. All proposals have datatag no.]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep
  	Revise
  	Drop	Bas, LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI
  	Does not apply
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.3.3 defines the taglvl (`tag level') quantity (also defined/used in 10.4.1).

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep
  	Revise
  	Drop
  	Does not apply
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.4 (a) defines three forms of minimized start-tag:
  • empty start-tag
  • unclosed start-tag
  • net-enabling start-tag
  These are allowed if and only if SHORTTAG YES is specified.
  
  [Sic Bas; om. LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI.]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	Bas
  	Revise
  	Drop	LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI
  	Does not apply
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.4 (b) specifies that empty start-tags behave differently depending on the omittag setting. [4]
  
  [Sic Bas; dna LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI.]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	Bas
  	Revise
  	Drop
  	Does not apply	LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.4.2 defines the meaning of the taglen quantity.

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep
  	Revise
  	Drop
  	Does not apply
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.5 defines three forms of minimized end-tags:
  • empty end-tag
  • unclosed end-tag
  • null end-tag
  These are allowed if and only if SHORTTAG YES is specified.
  
  [Sic Bas; om. LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, SO, TEI; mod. PSGML, SL. PSGML allows empty end-tags, despite having SHORTTAG NO, but not null or unclosed end-tags. SL allows empty end-tags, but not null or unclosed end-tags. TEI forbids use of all three minimized forms in section 28.1.3, but inconsistently includes the empty end-tag in the grammar in section 39.5.]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	Bas
  	Revise	PSGML, SL
  	Drop	LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, SO, TEI
  	Does not apply
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.6 distinguishes types of content:
  • mixed content
  • element content
  • replaceable character data
  • character data
  and specifies that the first two may contain comment declarations, shortrefs and shortref use declarations, link set use declarations, processing instructions, general entity references, character references, and entity ends. Different proposals treat these differently:
  • Mixed and element content allows comment declarations.
    
    [Sic Bas, LA, MGML, Min, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI; om. NSGML. NSGML does not allow comments anywhere.]

    	Disposition	Existing Proposals
    	Keep	Bas, LA, MGML, Min, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI
    	Revise
    	Drop	NSGML
    	Does not apply
    	Don't know

    
    Voting so far
    Change your vote on this one item
    
    
  • Mixed and element content allows shortref use declarations.
    
    [Sic Bas; om. LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI.]

    	Disposition	Existing Proposals
    	Keep	Bas
    	Revise
    	Drop	LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI
    	Does not apply
    	Don't know

    
    Voting so far
    Change your vote on this one item
    
    
  • Mixed and element content allows link set use declarations.
    
    [Om. Bas, LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI.]

    	Disposition	Existing Proposals
    	Keep
    	Revise
    	Drop	Bas, LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI
    	Does not apply
    	Don't know

    
    Voting so far
    Change your vote on this one item
    
    
  • Mixed and element content allows processing instructions.
    
    [Sic Bas, LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, SL, SO, TEI; om. PSGML.]

    	Disposition	Existing Proposals
    	Keep	Bas, LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, SL, SO, TEI
    	Revise
    	Drop	PSGML
    	Does not apply
    	Don't know

    
    Voting so far
    Change your vote on this one item
    
    
  • Mixed and element content allows shortrefs.
    
    [Sic Bas; om. LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI. LA lists shortref support under Future Work.]

    	Disposition	Existing Proposals
    	Keep	Bas
    	Revise
    	Drop	LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI
    	Does not apply
    	Don't know

    
    Voting so far
    Change your vote on this one item
    
    
  • Mixed and element content allows character and general entity references and entity ends.

    	Disposition	Existing Proposals
    	Keep
    	Revise
    	Drop
    	Does not apply
    	Don't know

    
    Voting so far
    Change your vote on this one item
    
    
  • Mixed and element content allows marked section declarations.
    
    [Sic Bas, Min, SO, TEI; om. LA, MGML, NSGML, PSGML; sil. SL.]

    	Disposition	Existing Proposals
    	Keep	Bas, Min, SO, TEI
    	Revise
    	Drop	LA, MGML, NSGML, PSGML
    	Does not apply
    	Don't know	SL

    
    Voting so far
    Change your vote on this one item
    
    
• 7.6.1 defines the record-end rules. [5]
  
  [Sic Bas, Min, SO; om. LA; mod. SL; sil. MGML, NSGML, PSGML, TEI. LA does not implement the RE/RS rules; they must be implemented by the LA client software. SL forbids "ignorable whitespace" in the document instance, with the exception of RS (always ignored), RE immediately following a start-tag, RE immediately preceding an end-tag, and RE immediately following an entity reference which has no refc. SO does not discuss the record-end rules, but a companion proposal of the same date suggests a simpler way of making elements `invisible' for purposes of record-end handling.]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	Bas, Min, SO
  	Revise	SL
  	Drop	LA
  	Does not apply
  	Don't know	MGML, NSGML, PSGML, TEI

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.7 and 7.8 define syntax for generic identifiers in tags, when concur and rank are declared.
  
  [Sic TEI; dna Bas, LA, Min, MGML, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO.]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	TEI
  	Revise
  	Drop
  	Does not apply	Bas, LA, Min, MGML, NSGML, PSGML, SO
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.9 defines the syntax of attribute value specifications, and requires an attribute value spec for each defined attribute unless one or more of the following is true:
  • the attribute is impliable (i.e. it was declared with a default value of implied, see 11.3.4)
  • SHORTTAG YES or OMITTAG YES is specified, and the attribute is declared with a default value, or with a current value that has been set by a previous occurrence.
  
  
  [Sic Bas, LA, MGML, Min, SL, SO; mod. NSGML, PSGML, TEI. NSGML does not require attribute value specifications for defaulted attributes. It does require attribute names and attribute values of type name or names to be uppercased. PSGML and TEI both allow the omission of attribute value specifications for all non-required attributes, despite forbidding other forms of shorttag.]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	Bas, LA, MGML, Min, SL, SO
  	Revise	NSGML, PSGML, TEI
  	Drop
  	Does not apply
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.9.1.2 allows omission of the attribute name and equals sign when the attribute has an enumerated data type (a declared value specified with a name group), if and only if SHORTTAG YES is specified.
  
  [Sic Bas, LA, SO, TEI; om. MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML; mod. SL. MGML, Min and PSGML forbid omission of the attribute name. SL allows the omission of the attribute name only if the value is the same token as the name (e.g. border=border may be abbreviated, but border=single may not).]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	Bas, LA, SO, TEI
  	Revise	SL
  	Drop	MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML
  	Does not apply
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.9.2 defines the attsplen (`attribute specification list length') and normsep (`normalized separator'?) quantities.

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep
  	Revise
  	Drop
  	Does not apply
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.9.3 distinguishes the two forms of the attribute value specification, namely the attribute value and the attribute value literal, and describes how the latter is reduced to the former, by replacing references, ignoring entity end, ignoring RS, replacing RE and SEPCHAR with SPACE, and (unless it's declared as cdata) trimming leading and trailing spaces, and reducing multiple spaces to single spaces.
  
  [Sic Bas, MGML, Min, PSGML, SO, TEI; om. LA; mod. NSGML; sil. SL. LA does not normalize attribute value literals into attribute values; the client must do so. In NSGML, the same rules govern attribute value literals as govern data content: i.e., only sdata and ndata entities and numeric character references are allowed.]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	Bas, MGML, Min, PSGML, SO, TEI
  	Revise
  	Drop	LA
  	Does not apply
  	Don't know	SL

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.9.3.1 allows the omission of quotation marks around attribute values (i.e. the use of attribute values instead of attribute value literals) if and only if the value contains nothing but name characters and SHORTTAG YES is specified.
  
  [Sic Bas, LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI.]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	Bas, LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI
  	Revise
  	Drop
  	Does not apply
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.9.4 defines the fifteen types of attribute value (listed in 11.3.3 with the declarations), and describes their meanings.
  
  [Sic Bas, LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, SL, SO, TEI; mod. PSGML. PSGML has no notation declaration and thus effectively omits attributes of type notation name.]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	Bas, LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, SL, SO, TEI
  	Revise	PSGML
  	Drop
  	Does not apply
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.9.4.1 forbids empty strings as attribute values for declared values other than cdata.
  
  [Sic Bas, LA, Min, SL, SO, TEI; sil. MGML, NSGML, PSGML.]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	Bas, LA, Min, SL, SO, TEI
  	Revise
  	Drop
  	Does not apply
  	Don't know	MGML, NSGML, PSGML

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.9.4.2 requires fixed attributes to take their default values.
  
  [Sic Bas, LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI.]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	Bas, LA, MGML, Min, NSGML, PSGML, SL, SO, TEI
  	Revise
  	Drop
  	Does not apply
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.9.4.3 requires entity names in attribute values to be data entities or SGML subdoc entities.
  
  [Sic Bas, LA, Min, NSGML, SL, SO, TEI; mod. PSGML; dna MGML. PSGML allows attributes to have the declared value entity, but forbids notation declarations and thus non-SGML entities. The compiler infers (rather than remembering) that the intention was to allow attributes to name SGML text entities. MGML has no attributes of type entity.]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	Bas, LA, Min, NSGML, SL, SO, TEI
  	Revise	PSGML
  	Drop
  	Does not apply	MGML
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.9.4.4 makes it an error to specify a value for a notation attribute if there is an explicit content reference, even if the notation attribute is declared as required.
  
  [Sic Bas, LA, Min, SL, TEI; dna MGML, PSGML, SO; sil. NSGML. MGML and PSGML have no conref attributes; they are optional in SO.]

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep	Bas, LA, Min, SL, TEI
  	Revise
  	Drop
  	Does not apply	MGML, PSGML, SO
  	Don't know	NSGML

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  
• 7.9.4.5 defines the meaning of the quantities litlen (also defined in 10.2.1, 10.1.7.1, 10.5.4.1) and grpcnt (also defined in 10.1.3.1).

  	Disposition	Existing Proposals
  	Keep
  	Revise
  	Drop
  	Does not apply
  	Don't know

  
  Voting so far
  Change your vote on this one item
  
  

Submit