Re: XPath 2.0: Conditional Expression (Was Re: [xsl] XQuery 1.0 and XPath 2.0 Functions and Operators Version 1.0)

[Jim Melton <jim.melton@xxxxxxx>]

Jeni,

Thanks for this note, as well.  I'm responding to the 2 notes separately 
because the subject matter and the response are both significantly different.

At 05:46 PM 9/7/2001 +0100 Friday, Jeni Tennison wrote:
> Another XPath 2.0 requirement that doesn't seem to be present in the
> F&O WD is 2.2 "Must Provide a Conditional Expression". I imagined that
> conditional expressions would be supported with an operator, something
> like:
>
>   boolean-expression ? true-expression : false-expression
>
> Is this functionality going to appear in a different document?

The XQuery 1.0 (surface syntax) working draft has an expression that I 
think is isomorphic to the example you cited.  The syntax is different, but 
it is an *expression* that returns a value.  In the June 7, 2001 draft, it 
appears in section 2.6, "Conditional Expressions".  You can find the most 
recent version of this document at: http://www.w3.org/TR/xquery  (I know 
that you know how to find it, but there may be other readers who do not).

There is on-going discussion about the best way to partition operators, 
functions, etc. between various documents.  The two ends of the spectrum 
are (a)Put ever conceivable operator, function, etc. into the F&O document, 
versus (b)Merge the F&O document with one or more other documents (e.g., 
XQuery, Formal Semantics, etc.; perhaps merging one or more of those 
documents together as well).  It's too soon to guess how those discussions 
will end, but I will comment here that I am extremely sensitive to the 
issue of inter-document complexities!

Hope this helps,
   Jim
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