Re: [xsl] Where is 'intersect' Operator Defined in XPath 3?

["Dimitre Novatchev dnovatchev@xxxxxxxxx" <xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>  >   If some feature is difficult to find, chances grow significantly that
> >  a more representative portion of the dev audience may not be aware of
> > this feature at all.
>
>   That is true and we should strive to improve the state of the
>   specifications wherever we can.

And we have a many years-long example of this:

In Xpath 2.0 a very powerful new feature was introduced: that the last step
in a path can be a function call.

But this was nowhere properly described in any of the official
specifications, except in the language grammar rules. Thus even today many
developers are not aware of this feature and are absolutely surprised when
told about it.

In the Spec this is just vaguely implied in one of the examples for "Filter
Expressions (https://www.w3.org/TR/xpath20/#id-filter-expr)  and one needs
to traverse the rules of the grammar  [27], [38], [41] .. and only then one
can realize that it is possible and legal to have a FunctionCall, which is
a PrimaryExpression, which can be the starting part of a FilterExpression,
which is a StepExpression...

Isn't this documented evidence of one of the epic editorial failures in the
history of XPath ?


Thanks,
Dimitre

On Mon, Aug 8, 2022 at 11:36 PM Norm Tovey-Walsh ndw@xxxxxxxxxx <
xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> "Dimitre Novatchev dnovatchev@xxxxxxxxx" <
> xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
> >>  Then we should at least strive at cross-linking both specs ...
> >
> > Or just rename "Functions and Operators" to "Functions and (some)
> operators"
> >
> > At least this will not be confusing and misleading.
>
> While that would be, arguably, literaly true and correct, I think that
> many readers would interpret that as snark which is probably not
> helpful.
>
> > If some feature is difficult to find, chances grow significantly that
> > a more representative portion of the dev audience may not be aware of
> > this feature at all.
>
> That is true and we should strive to improve the state of the
> specifications wherever we can.
>
>                                         Be seeing you,
>                                           norm
>
> --
> Norman Tovey-Walsh <ndw@xxxxxxxxxx>
> https://nwalsh.com/
>
> > As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has
> > the best information.--Benjamin Disraeli
> 
>


-- 
Cheers,
Dimitre Novatchev
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