xmlhack: XInclude makes changes on way to Candidate Recommendation

The Candidate Recommendation of XInclude, released by the W3C last week, introduces a variety of changes addressing fallback, fixup, and XPointer.

A new fallback feature permits the inclusion of alternate text to present in the case of a failed retrieval of the information to be included, thereby avoiding a fatal error.

Other new sections include handling of XPointer points, "fixup" for namespaces and IDREF/IDREFS references, base URI handling, and some additional examples.

The Status section asks in particular for input on XPointer:

XInclude has a dependency on [XPointer]. This adds significantly to the complexity of XInclude implementations. The XML Core Working Group specifically requests feedback on the use of XPointer in XInclude, including the following:

Would a subset of XPointer simplfy XInclude implementation? Which features should be available in this subset?

Would a subset of XPointer assist in building streaming XInclude processors? Which features should be available in this subset?

Comments on the specification should be sent to the www-xml-xinclude-comments@w3.org mailing list. The Candidate Recommendation phase ends 30 April 2002.