I instantly associate [] with optionality, but only because I use
unix-like operating systems, and all of the command line programs use []
for optionality in their --help or manpage.
Given what I perceive to be the audience of this spec, I think it will
wash. Furthermore, why not have a "conventions" section in the spec
explaining it for those who don't get it?
Cheers,
Matthew MacKenzie
XML Global
-----Original Message-----
From: James Clark
Sent: Mon 7/9/2001 7:53 PM
To: Murata Makoto;
Cc:
Subject: [] or ? for optional
--On 10 July 2001 09:38 +0900 Murata Makoto <>
wrote:
> James Clark wrote:
>
>> > - Isn't the type attribute optional for <value>?
>>
>> Yes. There's a "?" following the attribute value that is intended to
>> indicate this. Is there some way I should fix the notation to make
this
>> clearer?
>
> Sorry, I looked over the "?".
>
> I prefer "[" and "]" probably in a big font.
That would be more visually obvious, but I wonder how familiar the use
of
[] for optionality would be to our potential audience. Let's do a little
poll.
If you read this, please send a message to the list saying whether you
are
familiar with the use of [] for optionality and would guess that the
square
brackets in
<value [type="NCName"]>string</value>
indicate that the attribute is optional.
Alternatively we could try to make it harder to miss the ? by adding
parentheses
<value (type="NCName")?>string</value>
James
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