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Use of camel case (Naming and Design Rules specifications)

  • 1.  Use of camel case (Naming and Design Rules specifications)

    Posted 08-24-2005 21:16
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    Subject: Use of camel case (Naming and Design Rules specifications)


    As noted in the DITA Meeting Minutes for 16-August-2005 [1],
    I accepted an action item to deliver a set of references
    for several NDRs (Naming and Design Rules) specifications
    which contain rules for construction of XML component names
    (elements, attributes, types, entities, etc).
    
    I have created a document which provides extracts from ten
    (10) different NDRs, and one excerpt from an early ebXML Technical
    Architecture specification.  The document name is 'camelCase'
    because that's what was on my mind; indeed, all ten
    NDRs recommend/prescribe the use of camel case for closed
    compounds.  See:
    
    http://xml.coverpages.org/camelCase.html
    
    More specifically, the NDRs currently in use and in draft
    specify UCC (upper camel case) for elements and types,
    and LCC (lower camel case) for attributes.
    
    I've also included reference to a few applications
    (DocBook, TEI, Federal Enterprise Architecture Data Reference
    Model), noting the naming practices adopted in each. In
    the future I may add content to this "camelCase" document,
    but I'm not planning to survey all ten million (now-defunct
    and) current markup vocabularies.
    
    Paul Prescod mentioned in the DITA concall that document-centric
    markup applications tend(ed) to use single case (not mixed
    case) for names "because SGML is was case-insensitive."
    That could be true (?), but many of us -- and I'll bet
    PPrescod as well :-) -- reset the SGML declaration to
    "NAMECASE GENERAL NO" at the earliest opportunity so as to
    support case-sensitive (mixed-case) name validation under
    SGML, as was the done with TEI (Text Encoding Initiative) application
    as early as P4.
    
    The document providing extracts from the NDRs is not meant
    to prejudice any discussion about what's best for DITA version
    2.0 (or 1.1). However, my impression is that applications
    are increasingly shifting to use of mixed-case (camelCase),
    partly under the influence of Wikis and partly from the
    perceived value of uniform naming practices.
    
    Robin Cover
    
    alias: RobinCover robinCover robin-cover robin_cover etc.
    
    [1] Minutes Meeting Minutes -- 16 August 2005
    http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/14127/DITA_TC.8.16.05.txt
    
    


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