[Expat-discuss] Re: Conflict with two expat shared libraries

[Karl Waclawek]

Enrico Weigelt wrote:
> Probably I missed something, but if *the same* API function exist 
> with different behaviour (ie one time seeing char* as 8bit-string 
> and another time as 16bit string) is a fundamental misdesign.

They are not the same API functions, as the signatures are
different due to the different type of XML_Char.
This overloading of names is quite common.

Secondly, they don't even co-exist in the same library instance,
and the libraries for the two types of XML_Char have different names.

> If an package should provide a *reliable* quality, such things 
> are an absolute *NO* *NO* !
> 
> What stands against providing either *one* API (8bit *XOR* 16bit)
> and putting write frontend of the other variant or provide two 
> different sets of functions (ie xml8_xxx, xml16_xxx) ?

For some situations it would be nice to have both sets of
functions in the same library instance. This would mean reworking
a lot of Expat. Since Expat is a volunteer drive effort, why could
it not be you who contributes such a re-design?

Karl