• From: Liam R E Quin <liam@w...>
• To: cbullard@h...
• Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2013 12:04:02 -0500

On Thu, 2013-12-19 at 10:51 -0600, cbullard@h... wrote:
> A mundane question:  given a specification with schemas and text  
> descriptions of values, if these are in conflict which one is  
> authoritative? 
There is no single answer to this.

The schema will tell you that the data does not conform to it, but what
that means depends on the context.

I have an early 19th century book with a glossay that, part-way through,
reproduces a letter containing a poem, because the editor happened upon
it that day. If I'm transcribing the book then the schema must allow for
that, the book is the authority. If I am working for an airline company
and the ATA sent me a schema, I'd better make sure the aircraft manual
conforms to the schema.

Liam

-- 
Liam Quin - XML Activity Lead, W3C, http://www.w3.org/People/Quin/
Pictures from old books: http://fromoldbooks.org/
Ankh: irc.sorcery.net irc.gnome.org freenode/#xml

• References:
  • Which is the Authority: The Schema or the Text?
    • From: cbullard@h...