> [Ron Bourret]
>
> > 1) Are there any conventions in PIs for use/no use of equals signs?
>
> Not formally, but the trend (in the XML declaration, the old PI-based
> namespace proposal, and the experimental stylesheet PI) is towards
> attribute-like syntax. It makes processing a bit easier; your
> expression language can retrieve information about a PI in the same
> way it retrieves information about attributes.
Because PIs are relatively under-defined (so you can plonk inany old thing you
want) it makes them difficult for DOM or XLL
to say much useful about: if you use an attribute-like syntax
then at least you may have a fighting chance that future common
tools will be able to examine them and use them.
But, of course, piggy-backing PIs onto elements using attributes
is probably always a preferable option, if your PI structure can
matches the start-tag locations.
Even if you use attribute-like syntax, PI values are still just
text strings, from the XML viewpoint. Having a target (notation)
to indicate the syntax of the PI is a great headstart in labelling.
Rick Jelliffe