[sc34wg3] xml:base in XTM

[Kal Ahmed]

Hi all,

I'm looking into some queries reported by users of TM4J and one of them
raises an interesting question about the handling of xml:base when
parsing XTM files. 

Up until now, TM4J has always resolved ID attribute values against the
URL which specifies the location from which the topic map was read
(ignoring any xml:base attributes), and resolves all same-document
references (of the form '#foo') the same way. References to other
documents that use relative URIs are resolved to full URIs using the
xml:base value currently in force at the point where the reference is
encountered.

The RDF/XML spec [1] however says that an rdf:ID attribute of 'foo'
should be treated as equivalent to rdf:about="#foo" and that this should
then be resolved to a full URI using xml:base value currently in force.
I find this more internally consistent and a lot easier to understand.
The queries from my users indicate that this is the behaviour they
expect in XTM files as well.

Which is the correct way of resolving same-document references and ID
attributes in XTM ? And if its the former method, can we change it to
the latter in the next version of the standard ?

Cheers,

Kal

[1] http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-syntax-grammar/#section-Syntax-ID-xml-base
-- 
Kal Ahmed, Techquila
Standards-based Information Management
e: kal@techquila.com
w: www.techquila.com
p: +44 7968 529531