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Thomas G. Habing wrote:

>  <mods:titleInfo> is equivalent to <mods:titleInfo xlink:type='simple'>
>
> Is this correct, and was this the intention?

I raised this issue recently.  Yes, it is the intention, and I really
wish it wasn't, because -- as you point out -- it presents processing
problems.  The only way to not violate the existing spec is to make your
document dependent on an external schema.  I'd prefer xlink:type to be
required.

That said, the latest xlink spec proposal aims to formalize the notion
that if there is no type attribute, then the type is "simple." That
would be the ideal solution.

> The problem is for example, if I am using an XPath expression such as
> "mods:titleInfo[@xlink:type='simple']" to determine whether there is an
> xlink or not  ...

Why would you test for the simple?  Why not just do:

        mods:titleInfo[@xlink:href and not(@xlink:type='whatever')]

> I've encountered this problem with the MS XML parser.  The work around
> is to tell the parser not to resolve external definitions, but it still
> seems like a problem with the schema, unless the intention was that
> every titleInfo really is a simple xlink whether explicitly declared or
> not.

As a general rule, I don't think an XML document should be dependent on
outside sources to be able to process, which is exactly what default
attributes do.

Bruce