Re: @xml:base with @rendition (and maybe other pointers)

Hi John,

On 2017-05-06 09:51 AM, John P. McCaskey wrote:
> I myself would not recommend prefixes for the modest projects I see.
> Learning XML and TEI is enough without learning regular expressions.

That's true, but you only need temporary access to a single individual=20
with regex skills to set up one or two prefix defs for you, and you're=20
good to go; you don't need to learn it all yourself.

> And there is the need to keep straight the difference between these TEI
> prefixes and common URL prefixes. History student: =E2=80=9COh, you mea=
n like
> http:?=E2=80=9D Yes, it=E2=80=99s like your own custom http:. =E2=80=9C=
Do I need the //?=E2=80=9C Well,
> no, it=E2=80=99s like a URL prefix, but different. More a URI prefix th=
an a URL
> prefix. Umm, forget that. Just don=E2=80=99t use one that=E2=80=99s alr=
eady taken. Not
> that it really matters. But, well, sometimes it could. =E2=80=9DKinda l=
ike
> namespaces, which I=E2=80=99ve finally figured out in XML?=E2=80=9D Yes=
! =E2=80=9DGot it. Where
> do I put the xmlns part?=E2=80=9D Well, no, <prefixDef> is used instead=
. =E2=80=9CSigh.
> To point to my renditions, why can=E2=80=99t I just use #red=E2=80=9D? =
You could . . .
> but pull up a chair and I=E2=80=99ll explain more why we recommend othe=
rwise.

I don't think anyone has recommended otherwise, actually. I'd recommend

a) avoid @xml:base like the plague (as Hugh suggested)

b) if you can, put your <rendition>s in the same file as the @renditions=20
that point to them, and use #red, and

c) if you need more complexity, ask someone to help you set up a=20
<prefixDef>.

> Sigh.
>
> I consider prefixes an advanced topic.
>
> (By the way, is it still a URI once a TEI prefix is added? Or is it a
> URI only after the prefix is processed?)

No, it's a URI in its prefixed form.

> Whatever gets written, the reader should be able to walk away with
> practical starting-point advice:
> - =E2=80=9DWhat should I use for internal pointers?=E2=80=9D A # follow=
ed by any name
> you choose. Then use the same name without the # as xml:id on the other=
 end.
> - =E2=80=9CHow should I encode file names?=E2=80=9C Just the file name.=
 Then enter the
> directory as xml:base in <text>.

Yes to the first, no to the second, for me.

> I would not have the first thing in the how-to be: =E2=80=9CThere are f=
our kinds
> of pointers. The first is a prefixed pointer. . . .=E2=80=9D

One way to think of <prefixDef> is as a kind of old-fashioned @key=20
attribute, except that it comes with explicit documentation in=20
processable format that tells you how to dereference it.

Cheers,
Martin

> John