[DDI-SRG] Prefixes in XML, or no Prefixes?

[Matthew Richardson]

As I've been building stylesheets for DDI3, I've noticed that I seem to get
two flavors of XML. Some of the files have namespace prefixes; some do not.

I've attached examples of both.

Both instances are perfectly valid. One leaves out the prefixes entirely.
Either way, the XSLT has to spell out prefixes for the various namespaces,
but they don't appear to be necessary in the XML.

Are these namespace prefixes really just an artifact of display? I.e., are
they really only necessary in XSLT and in other applications, or is there a
good reason for including them in the XML?

Any advice you can give on this issue is greatly appreciated.

-- 
Matthew Richardson, ICPSR
matvey at icpsr.umich.edu
734.615.7901

"Oh, what a world of profit and delight,
Of power, of honor, of omnipotence,
Is promised to the studious artisan!"
-- The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus, Christopher Marlowe

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