[XML-SIG] Draft PEP for Using None in Namespace URIs

Martin v. Loewis martin@mira.cs.tu-berlin.de
Tue, 30 Jan 2001 09:36:23 +0100


>    When a namespace applies but its URI value is empty or null or None,
>    the application MUST report the URI of the namespace value as None.

I'm not sure what this means. In section 2 of REC-xml-names-19990114,
they write

# If the attribute name matches PrefixedAttName, then the NCName gives
# the namespace prefix, used to associate element and attribute names
# with the namespace name in the attribute value in the scope of the
# element to which the declaration is attached. In such declarations,
# the namespace name may not be empty.

In section 4, they say

# The namespace prefix, unless it is xml or xmlns, must have been
# declared in a namespace declaration attribute in either the
# start-tag of the element where the prefix is used or in an an
# ancestor element (i.e. an element in whose content the prefixed
# markup occurs).

So how could it ever happen that "a namespace applies but its URI
value is empty or null or None"?

>    This requirement does not apply for applications that are not
>    namespace-aware.

What exactly does that mean? The XMLNS recommendation specifies what
it means that documents conform to it.

Regards,
Martin