> Recall that with XML Schemas you can specify that all
> elements in conforming instance documents must be
> namespace-qualified using:
>
> elementFormDefault="qualified"
>
> Or, you can specify that only top-level, global elements must
> be namespace-qualified using:
>
> elementFormDefault="unqualified"
That's not a very accurate precis of the spec. For a start, anything you say
here can be overridden in the form attribute of individual element or
attribute declarations.
> These can yield remarkably different instance documents.
>
Yes, obviously, changing a default at the top level is likely to have a
major impact.
> RECOMMENDATION
>
> Don't use elementFormDefault="unqualified" in your XML
> Schemas. It destroys the modularity benefits provided by namespaces.
>
>
> Do you agree with this recommendation?
Yes. I think there has been a high level of consensus about this for many
years. See for example Walmsley p448 or van der Vlist p159.
Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/
