>
> If the XSLT, XQUERY constraints were removed (MK comments "I wouldn't
> start from here") what might such a model look like and would it have
> a significant use case?
>
I made an attempt at this with my FtanML paper at Balisage two or three years ago.
http://www.balisage.net/Proceedings/vol10/html/Kay01/BalisageVol10-Kay01.html
Starting with a markup language that tried to combine what XML and JSON do well into a unified scheme, which could be described as JSON plus mixed content, or as XML with typed attributes.
Then defined a simple data model on top of this, and then a query language (I rather like the name, FtanSkrit) and schema language on top of the data model.
I think it showed that it can be done. But of course, the fact that something can be done doesn't mean that you can achieve uptake.
Michael Kay
Saxonica