Andrew> it's a practice best avoided.
This is harder to argue against, given the lamentable state
of existing implementations.
I would argue against embedding this kind of information in the XML source
document for a wholly different reason. I use XSL for single-sourcing
solutions. I have been in the situation of having one XML source and
generating two different output formats from it when a client asks for a
third output format. I wouldn't wish to modify the XML source to support
the new format when I could just write yet another stylesheet and go
merrily along without ever touching the XML source. (And what about the
fourth and fifth and so on down the road? I might have to mess with that
XML source many times.)
As a general rule, I prefer to apply constraints at the latest possible
point in the process. In this case, I don't want to set the media type of
the output until I generate the output.
To trot out an old metaphor, water is just water. It's up to the
generator, the farmer, the water treatment plant, and others to make good
use of the water when it gets to them. It'd be silly to expect the water
to know the uses people intend for it.
My $.02 for the day.
Jay Bryant
Bryant Communication Services
(presently consulting at Synergistic Solution Technologies)
--~------------------------------------------------------------------
XSL-List info and archive: http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list
To unsubscribe, go to: http://lists.mulberrytech.com/xsl-list/
or e-mail: <mailto:xsl-list-unsubscribe(_at_)lists(_dot_)mulberrytech(_dot_)com>
--~--