[whatwg] xml:space

[Henri Sivonen]

On Jan 22, 2007, at 23:57, Ian Hickson wrote:

> It's automatically conforming everywhere, no? Isn't it an XML thing?

It is an XML thing. XML 1.0 4th ed. says:
> A special attribute named xml:space may be attached to an element  
> to signal an intention that in that element, white space should be  
> preserved by applications. In valid documents, this attribute, like  
> any other, MUST be declared if it is used. When declared, it MUST  
> be given as an enumerated type whose values are one or both of  
> "default" and "preserve".
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml/#sec-white-space

So the vocabularies that have a DTD and wish to use the attribute  
must declare it in the DTD. For DTDless vocabularies, it doesn't  
exactly say whether the vocabularies should explicitly allow the  
attribute, but explicitly allowing it leaves no ambiguity.

(As a practical matter, it would be nice to explicitly remind  
conformance checker developers that the attribute is conforming.  
Otherwise, it is easily forgotten. :-)

-- 
Henri Sivonen
hsivonen at iki.fi
http://hsivonen.iki.fi/