• From: Roger L Costello <costello@m...>
• To: "xml-dev@l..." <xml-dev@l...>
• Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2022 19:58:18 +0000

Liam wrote:

> they represent attributes (properties) of that element.

But, but, but, ...

In the past I made the mistake on this list of calling attributes 'metadata' (a.k.a. properties) and was subsequently scolded (paraphrasing): 

	Attributes are not metadata. Look in the XML specification,
 	there is not a single mention of the word 'metadata.' (Nor
 	does the XML specification refer to attributes as properties.)
 	Attributes are merely syntax. Attributes are merely an alternate
 	syntax to the <element>value</element> syntax. Attributes
 	have no relationship, meaning, affinity, context-sensitivity,
	or anything with elements or anything else.

Did I misunderstand my scolding?

These sure look to me like whitespace-separated name-value pairs: 

    name="John Doe" employer="Acme Inc." age="30"

/Roger 

• Follow-Ups:
  • Re: Why does XML call them "attributes" and not name-value pairs?
    • From: Dan Brickley <danbri@d...>