Note

Date: Oct. 24, 2000
Link: http://www.w3.org/TR/xlink-naming/
Source Author or Organization: Sun Microsystems, W3C

XML Linking Language (XLink) is a vocabulary that allows you to add hyperlinking to any XML document. This note addresses a number of XLink implementation hurdles.

Currently, XLink requires applications to recognize a particular set of attribute names in the XLink namespace in order to do their work. In the problem case, there may be some pre-existing marked-up information that already provides some of the same kinds of linking information that XLink is designed to provide.

Building upon a suggestion from Henry Thompson of the W3C XML Schema Working Group, this document proposes methods of using XML Schema datatypes when handling XML documents that want to use XLink that already provide incompatible linking XLink. XML Schema would also be used to specify the combinations of attribute types that are expected to appear on particular XLink element types.