Re: [xml] setting the default charset ?

[Daniel Veillard <veillard redhat com>]

On Mon, Jul 30, 2001 at 04:57:18PM +0200, Thomas Broyer wrote:
> > I consider this a serious mistake.
>
> Some servers recode files on the fly, they do not modify their content (so
> don't modify the encoding declaration).
> That's the reason why the encoding declaration at protocol level is
> authoritative.

  "Screw the data and let the other end try to handle the breakage"
should not be allowed, sorry it's an error to allow it in my opinion.
First step in the slippery slope leading to buggy specs, code and non
interoperable implementation. Just WRONG IMHO.

> On the contrary, it's quite similar.
> In <http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/charset.html#spec-char-encoding> :
>   1. An HTTP "charset" parameter in a "Content-Type" field.
>   2. A META declaration with "http-equiv" set to "Content-Type" and
>      a value set for "charset".
>   3. The charset attribute set on an element that designates an
>      external resource.
>
> First, look at a declaration at the protocol level, then a declaration
> "hardcoded" in the stream.

  XML was all about trying to build a clean substrate, it's wrong to reapply
the same broken techniques by comparing with HTML.

  This is getting off-topic, sorry :-\

Daniel

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