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

[Martin Holmes]

I'm still not really clear on why we need <mixedContent> if we have 
<textNode>. Isn't it rather a complication? Isn't <mixedContent> just 
shorthand for a content model where text nodes are freely interleaved 
with other elements?

Cheers,
Martin

On 14-10-06 04:05 AM, Sebastian Rahtz wrote:
>
> On 6 Oct 2014, at 11:51, Lou Burnard <lou.burnard at retired.ox.ac.uk> wrote:
>
>>>   Special-casing it as a shortcut implies
>>> its the norm, when I suggest that it isn’t (“text | <gi>” is our norm).
>> I think by "<gi>" mlearned friend means "<g>" . Note also that this is a
>> "norm" in  TEI practice, not in XML schemas in general. pureODD is
>> intended for use outside the TEI too.
>
> Yes, accepted.
>
>>>
>>> Re <mixedContent>, what’s missing is the definition of what “textual
>>> nodes” are. I feel the same way as about the “text node” in <textNode>,
>>> that mapping it to “string” implies that this a good norm which is correct for most
>>> cases.  Lou and I see this differently. YMMV.
>>
>> It is true that we need to decide what the "text" part of "mixedContent"
>> is. However, unlike textNode, the user can easily change the meaning of
>> <mixedContent> by redefining its content model.
>
> Sort of. The user cannot change how <mixedContent> is implemented
> (its content model isn’t relevant here) but they can change their use of it
> i.e. by adding extra *Ref to the mix.
>
>> Note also exactly the same uncertainties about what "text" means (for
>> example, are spaces normalised or not?) apply to the @allowText proposal.
>
> yes. very happy to see that go.
>
> I think you and I _do_ actually agree on where to go:
>
>   * no <textNode> (use macroRef key=“data.text”)
>   * define the “text node” in <mixedContent> to mean 'rng:data tyoe=“string”'
>
> I might wonder whether we need a new element to replace macroRef key=“data.*
> so that we can start to deprecate macros, but that’s another matter.
>
> --
> 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.
>