There are two reasons why the EAD linking elements are not XLINK compliant:

1) To be fully compliant would require use of XML Namespace attributes, and
such attributes are irregularly implemented in XML parsers.

2) EAD 2002 remains compliant with SGML. To maintain this compliance, it
was necessary to change some of the XLINK defined values because SGML will
not allow two different attributes declared for the same element to have
the same literal values in a NKTOKEN list. Thus

"show (new | replace | embed | showother | shownone)",
instead of
"xlink:show (new | replace | embed | other | none)"

because the values "other" and "none" show up in the NMTOKEN lists of more
than one attribute.

Rather than alter the DTD, I would recommend that you simply write an XSLT
stylesheet to transform your EAD 2002 instance into an XML instance with
the linking elements transformed to be XLINK compliant. You will of course
not be able to validate this against the EAD 2002 DTD, but it is certainly
adequate for publication purposes, and for experimenting with XLINK
software (as limited as it is).



At 08:45 PM 4/29/2003 +0200, you wrote:
>Hello to everybody from Spain.
>     This is my first message to the list. (Sorry, I hope my English is
>good enough...)
>     Could someone tell me why EAD Version 2002 has been developed in
>such a way that it's not fully conformant or compliant with XLink 1.0,
>but merely "compatible"? It's strange to me to find, in "attlist"
>declaration of linking elements in the EAD DTD, attributes and its
>values like
>"show (new | replace | embed | showother | shownone)",
>instead of
>"xlink:show (new | replace | embed | other | none)"
>(that would be conformant to XLink).
>     In every linking or reference element in EAD (Version 2002) Tag
>Library you can read: "While XML Linking Language (XLink) Version 1.0,
>which is the basis for EAD linking elements, is a stable document,
>examples of EAD usage are hypothetical and have not been tested in real
>XLink-based applications. Those wishing to use XLink are encouraged to
>consult the specification available online at
><http://www.w3.org/TR/xlink/>."
>     And in comments inside the EAD DTD itself, you can read: "3.
>Linking and pointing elements made compatible (though not conformant)
>with W3C XML Linking Language (XLink) Version 1.0 (W3C Recommendation 27
>June 2001: http://www.w3.org/TR/xlink/). 'Compatible' means than the EAD
>linking and pointing elements and attributes are not fully compliant
>with the XLink recommendation, but are sufficiently structured and
>semantically rich to support transformation into compliant elements and
>attributes using XSLT or other transformation techniques."
>     XML Linking Language (XLink) Version 1.0 is a W3C Recommendation
>from 27 June 2001, and hence, is a stable document, while EAD Version
>2002 is born to mankind in December 2002. One year and a half to make
>EAD conformant whit XLink... without the need of "XSLT or other
>transformation techniques".
>     And the browser Doczilla 1.0 (www.doczilla.org), from CiTEC, is a
>"real XLink-based application" that could be used to test "hypothetical
>examples" of linking and pointing elements.
>     Waiting for your help...
>     Best regards.
>
>P.S.: I have made some "little" changes to the EAD DTD version 2002 in
>order to make it XLink 1.0 compliant (at the moment, in a few elements
>and for simple links only)... by amusement. Because, I know it, this way
>my documents are not "conformant or compliant" with EAD DTD. And this is
>the worst solution...
>
>--
>------------------------------+--------------------------------
>J. Tomas Nogales              |         voz: (+34) 91 624 92 50
>Dpto. Bibl. y Documentacion   |         fax: (+34) 91 624 92 12
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>------------------------------+--------------------------------

Daniel V. Pitti
Project Director
Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities
319 Alderman Library    P.O. Box 400115
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