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List:       xml4lib
Subject:    RE: [XML4Lib] Question on trailing whitespace in MARCXML
From:       "Houghton,Andrew" <houghtoa () oclc ! org>
Date:       2008-07-03 13:26:13
Message-ID: 6548F17059905B48B2A6F28CE3692BAAC89F48 () OAEXCH4SERVER ! oa ! oclc ! org
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> From: xml4lib-bounces@webjunction.org [mailto:xml4lib-
> bounces@webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Mathias Kratzer
> Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2008 5:30 AM
> To: xml4lib
> Subject: [XML4Lib] Question on trailing whitespace in MARCXML
> controlfieldelements
> 
> Dear all,
> 
> is it valid to omit trailing whitespace in MARCXML controlfield
> elements?
> 
> Example:
> 
> <controlfield tag="008">920219s1993    caua   j      000 0
> eng</controlfield>
> 
> instead of
> 
> <controlfield tag="008">920219s1993    caua   j      000 0 eng
> </controlfield>
> 
> 
> According to the MARCXML schema leader and controlfields are subject to
> "whitespace preservation", and for interior whitespace it is clear why
> this is vital. However, any application could easily fill any missing
> positions with whitespaces by default. IMHO it is still _not_ valid to
> omit trailing whitespace - so my real problem is that I'm not able to
> find any sort of document that states "yes, doing so will let your
> MARCXML become invalid".
> 
> I am completely aware of the fact that the LoC (as maintaining agency
> of the MARCXML standard) is the appropriate address for my question but
> the "Contact Us" link on http://www.loc.gov/standards/marcxml/// only
> led me to the general "Ask a Librarian" page. So I thought this mailing
> list is probably the more direct way to ask the experts :-)

The MARC-XML schema use whitespace preservation because whitespace is a content \
issue.  You could omit the whitespace and your MARC-XML would still validate.  \
However, the MARC 21 standards, e.g., authority, bibliographic, holdings, etc. \
specify what the content should be.  In those standards the 008 is exactly 40 \
characters long.  Which means that those trailing spaces are significant to the \
interpretation of the content that is serialized into any format whether it be ISO \
2709 or a MARC-XML instance document.


Andy.



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