[tei-council] how much can one customize and still have a TEI document?

[David J Birnbaum]

Dear James (cc Council),

> I'm still curious as to whether, if I produce an ODD that allows me to rename
> all the elements I'm using to docbook-like elements whether that is a TEI
> document.  Does it matter if it is in the TEI namespace?  Or if I present the
> ODD with it?  The of course the question is what if I only rename 50% of the
> elements, but keep some TEI ones...is that document more a TEI document?
>   
P3 addressed this with an informal prose admonition (29.1.4), which 
survives in the current P5 materials:
> Radical revision is possible. It would be possible to remodel so that 
> the <teiHeader> is not required, or that it is required but the 
> minimal components described in chapter 5 
> <http://www.tei-c.org/Vault/GL/P3/HD.htm> , are no longer required, or 
> that no <text> element is required. In fact, the mechanism, if used in 
> an extreme way, permits deletion of the entire set of TEI definitions 
> and their replacement by an entirely different DTD! Such revisions 
> would result in documents that are not TEI conformant in even the 
> broadest sense, and it is not intended that encoders use the mechanism 
> in this way.
Is a more formal definition achievable? Desirable? Necessary?

Best,

David