XML Schema, and related topics

[David J Craigon <david arabidopsis info>]

Hello,

Question:
Is the XML Schema in the tarball kept up to date? It's not got the right 
version number in it.

Opinion (AKA newcomer sticks oar in, looks foolish):
I think I read in the archive somewhere that you wanted to make the 
parsing of the XML "more flexible". I think this would be a bad idea. In 
fact, if it were up to me, I'd keep the XML Schema up to date, check the 
gnumeric files against the schema, and die horribly if they didn't 
match. I think the pain of dealing with non-conforming gnumeric files is 
not worth it. It's especially unfair on other spreadsheets trying to 
read your files- not only do they have to emulate your file format, they 
also have to emulate all the quirks you accept, in the same way as you 
accept them (see all web browsers, ever).

Something I would like (as someone who is currently making Gnumeric XML 
files), is the schema to clearly mark out some optional sections. For 
instance I couldn't care less about the section called 
<PrintInformation> for my files. I'd like it made explicit in the schema 
that it was optional, I'd leave it out, and I'd get the defaults. That 
way it would be very easy to create a gnumeric file- ultimately all you 
might need is a <Sheet> and some <Cell>s.

What do you reckon?

David

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