Re: Please stop writing specifications that cannot be parsed/processed by software

Michael Kay wrote:

> the XPath function library is defined in an XML document
> that contains all the function signatures in a custom
> vocabulary reflecting the object model for XPath functions,
> and that data is extremely useful; it can be used for example
> to create the data used by a type-checker. I'm sure there are
> cases where an XML format can be standardised across a
> wide range of specifications (for example, a format for
> defining BNF grammars) but I'm sure that highly specialized
> custom formats also have a role to play.

This is really interesting. Michael, would you expand on this please? I am not entirely clear on what you are saying. What does this mean:  "the XPath function library is defined in an XML document that contains all the function signatures in a custom vocabulary reflecting the object model for XPath functions." Perhaps you would be willing to provide an example to illustrate what you mean?

/Roger