[tei-council] <content> vs <mixedContent>

[Martin Holmes]

On 14-10-03 07:18 AM, Sebastian Rahtz wrote:
> No, really, folks this is mad.
>
> Having two elements <content> and <mixedContent> which have more or less
> identical semantics, and identical content models, is against natural law. This is what
> attributes are for, to make that slight distinction, i.e. <content mixed=“true”>
> and <content mixed=“false”>

I agree, on the assumption that there's nothing intrinsically different 
between a content model which has some structure but allows <p> anywhere 
in it, and a model with some structure which allows a text node anywhere 
in it. Are we sure we need to make a distinction at all?

In one sense, there's no reason to treat a text node any differently 
from an element node: mention it when it can appear, and that's the end 
of it. On the other hand, it's a bit special in that all sequences of 
text nodes collapse to a single node; I can imagine content models 
(especially those relying on pre-defined models) which end up allowing 
sequences of multiple text nodes; would an ODD processor have to be 
aware of that?

> yes, of course I can change code like
>
> <xsl:apply-templates mode="odd2odd-copy" select="tei:content”/>
>
> to
>
> <xsl:apply-templates mode="odd2odd-copy" select=“tei:content|tei:mixContent”/>
>
> passim, but its hideous to look at and confusing to maintain.

We shouldn't let implementation drive specification, but I take your 
point that it's often a good indicator of problems with specification.

Cheers,
Martin

> --
> Sebastian Rahtz
> Director (Research) of Academic IT
> University of Oxford IT Services
> 13 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6NN. Phone +44 1865 283431
>
> Não sou nada.
> Nunca serei nada.
> Não posso querer ser nada.
> À parte isso, tenho em mim todos os sonhos do mundo.
>