Arjun Ray scripsit:

>  Before you apply a validation DTD to an instance, how do you know whether
>  it is even appropriate to do so,

Okay, this is what conflicts lawyers call the "problem of characterization":
how can you apply rules that are appropriate for objects of type X until
you have decided which rules should tell you what is and is not an
object X!

If your application accepts only one document type, then you can
write a schema (in RNG, the union of two schemas is always a schema)
that describes that document type.  If you accept more than one document
type, you may have to use some sort of probe to determine which document
type this instance might conform to; this could constitute a full
validation or something smaller.

-- 
John Cowan <jcowan@[...].com>      http://www.reutershealth.com
I amar prestar aen, han mathon ne nen,    http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
han mathon ne chae, a han noston ne 'wilith.  --Galadriel, _LOTR:FOTR_

-----------------------------------------------------------------
The xml-dev list is sponsored by XML.org <http://www.xml.org> , an
initiative of OASIS <http://www.oasis-open.org> 

The list archives are at http://lists.xml.org/archives/xml-dev/

To subscribe or unsubscribe from this list use the subscription
manager: <http://lists.xml.org/ob/adm.pl>