> > I agree that it's legal, but for our purposes it's definitely not > > 'good' because those namespaces definitely are NOT inherited by > > records packed as _strings_. > OK - agreed that *if* the xmlns is "opaque" to the XML document (because > it has been packed into a strings) then the xmlns should be in the > packed string. And if they have to do it for strings, then there's practically no hardship for making it mandatory for non strings as well. > However, if the record is being passed as XML then there can be no > guarantees where the namespaces get defined. Even if the SRW server has > followed some SRW convention, an intermediary might have reparsed the > XML and moved the namespace definitions elsewhere - for example there > are now a number of WebService firewalls on the market which might read > the XML and sign it. They would necessary convert the XML to canonical > XML (which would move the xml declarations to the root element). DDTT. If you're stuck behind such a monster, then use either string packing or expect that -your client- is going to have such issues. That has nothing to do with the -server- which can still be legitimately expected to put namespace definitions where we want it to. You could have a client behind a firewall that turns the message into morse code and transmits it via ham radio for all the server and the protocol specification could care. > Even if there wasn't an intermediary - I might want to sign my SRW > responses (which would mean violating any convention to put namespace > definitions on the innermost element). Can you explain further the mechanics of 'signing an SRW response'? As I understand it, you have to wrap the entire thing in a <Signature> element, then you have another service which checks the signature, unwraps it and returns the original xml? And this is -required- to return the canonical form? Rob -- ,'/:. Dr Robert Sanderson ([log in to unmask]) ,'-/::::. http://www.o-r-g.org/~azaroth/ ,'--/::(@)::. Special Collections and Archives, extension 3142 ,'---/::::::::::. University of Liverpool ____/:::::::::::::. I L L U M I N A T I L5R Shop: http://www.cardsnotwords.com/