Re: Managing "comments" in XML documents like any other XML content

At 01:16 PM 12/11/2003, Scott Abel wrote:

>I'm trying to make the case for treating 'comments' written in XML documents
>as content. That is, I want to tag comments with a <comment> element instead
>of "commenting it out" using the SGML comments notation <!--comment goes
>here--!>.
>
>There are likely to be many benefits of tagging comment content in XML
>documents. The ability to sort, filter, and otherwise manage them seem to be
>logical benefits.
>
>But, why exactly? What could we do with it? Has anyone done anything using
>this technique? Are you doing it now? And, if so, in what ways has the
>ability to manipulate comment data in XML documents helped your
>organization?
>
>I'm hoping to locate articles about comment tagging (as well as feedback
>from list members) that I can use to create a business case for adopting an
>approach that ensures comments in XML documents are managed in a way that is
>beneficial to the business.

Hi Scott,

I guess I would start by working out how you want to *use* this
information, and then working back from there.

XML comments were designed to be specifically "outside" the document,
as annotation, and many XML processing engines just quietly throw them
away (such as XSLT systems).

If you have a need to make use of this information, then by all
means, create a new <comment> tag.

PS. these sorts of discussions have been going on for some time in
the XML community. I would recommend one of the following lists:
http://listserv.heanet.ie/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=xml-l&A=1
http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/xml-dev
http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/xml-doc

Cheers,
James
-------------------------
James Robertson
Step Two Designs Pty Ltd

Knowledge Management / Content Management / Intranets

http://www.steptwo.com.au/
[email protected]

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