I think this bit here is key:
"... always return the correct results when given a valid XSLT/XPath program
and a well-formed XML"
In particular, "well-formed XML" is not a meaningful qualification because it
says nothing about the correctness of the data it contains with respect to the
processing being performed.
In fact, a non-well-formed XML document should always return the correct
result, namely immediate report of a parsing failure, but a well-formed XML
document could be anything.
The real challenge in a safety-critical application would be validating the
data being communicated into the transform--the testing obligation would be
huge, but that's as it should be in any such application.
Given what Mike said, it seems like the use of XSLT is really a red
herring--the same concerns would apply to any program doing any kind of data
processing. XSLT at least has the characteristic that it is, almost entirely,
completely deterministic per the design of the language (no side effects,
etc.). Of course, if you're using extension functions or things like random
numbers then all bets are off but those are things you can control for.
Cheers,
E.
--
Eliot Kimber
http://contrext.com
On 11/15/19, 6:09 AM, "Costello, Roger L. costello(_at_)mitre(_dot_)org"
<xsl-list-service(_at_)lists(_dot_)mulberrytech(_dot_)com> wrote:
Hi Folks,
Are you using XSLT/XPath in a life-critical application such as controlling
a nuclear power plant or controlling an aircraft flight system?
Can an XSLT/XPath processor be relied on to always return the correct
results when given a valid XSLT/XPath program and a well-formed XML document?
Is it possible to quantify or bound the correctness of an XSLT/XPath processor?
Is there an XSLT/XPath processor that limits the probability of getting an
incorrect result to 10**(-9)?
/Roger
--~----------------------------------------------------------------
XSL-List info and archive: http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list
EasyUnsubscribe: http://lists.mulberrytech.com/unsub/xsl-list/1167547
or by email: xsl-list-unsub(_at_)lists(_dot_)mulberrytech(_dot_)com
--~--