XOM API for Processing XML with Java

[Elliotte Harold <elharo AT metalab.unc.edu>]

peter,

You've hit a major flaw in namespaces. There's nothing XOM can do to 
solve this. Any solution we follow including the current one has nasty, 
surprising consequences for some use cases. The simple fact is that 
namespace prefixes in attribute values are evil, and will cause 
problems, no matter which API you use, no matter how you treat them. Sad 
but true.

We went around and around on this issue (in scope vs. declared) a couple 
of years ago, and there just doesn't seem to be a good way around it. I 
eventually decided that the least surprising approach was that detached 
elements would not automatically carry with them the namespace bindings 
of their ancestors. Doing so would:

1. Make detaching a very expensive operation

2. Surprise people who expected the namespace bindings of the new 
location to rule

This is especially true if you consider that it's not just the presence 
but the absence of bindings for a particular prefix you have to consider.

I wish I had a better answer for you, but there's just no way around 
this ugliness in namespaces. All I can suggest is remove the prefixes in 
attribute values if possible and if not then make sure you always use 
the same prefixes.

--
Elliotte Rusty Harold  elharo AT metalab.unc.edu
XML in a Nutshell 3rd Edition Just Published!
http://www.cafeconleche.org/books/xian3/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0596007647/cafeaulaitA/ref=nosim