[jsdl-wg] jsdl specification 0.9.3. (draft 14)

[Karl Czajkowski]

On Mar 10, Michel Drescher loaded a tape reading:

> 6) ch. 5.4.6 Arguments / ch. 5.4.7 Argument element
> The definition and the examples are inconsistent. The example to start 
> Apache2 on a Windows box indicates that empty jsdl:Argument elements 
> are allowed, but the definition does not mention this at all.
> Proposal: Extend the definition of jsdl:Argument to allow empty 
> elements, as long as at least one jsdl:Argument element is non-empty. 
> This relaxes a bit the constraints on a JSDL document
> creator, but increases a bit more the parsing and validation burden on 
> the JSDL document recipient. I can live with that.

I do not understand this.  Empty strings are valid arguments on many
platforms, so no collapsing should be possible. In other words:

<Arguments>
  <Argument>arg1</Argument>
</Arguments>

and

<Arguments>
  <Argument>arg1</Argument>
  <Argument></Argument>
  <Argument/>
</Arguments>

can not be considered equivalent!  The first corresponds to a shell
syntax like:

   some-program "arg1"

while the second is:

   some-program "arg1" "" ""


karl

-- 
Karl Czajkowski
karlcz at univa.com