Support for foreign content vocabularies such as MathML and SVG

Any content? DITA's main limitation in specialization is the inability 
to add new attributes. People will see the <unknown> mechanism as a way 
to accomplish specializations that would need compromises otherwise. 
What I fear is that this loophole becomes the de facto specialization 
mechanism because it's easier, bypassing the conventional but more 
restrictive mechanism, hindering interoperability.

Chris

Erik Hennum wrote:

> * Support for foreign content vocabularies such as MathML and SVG
>
> Some content types have generally accepted vocabularies such as MathML 
> (Mathematics Markup Language) and SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics). 
> Instead of reinventing the wheel, DITA might allow optional use of 
> these well-known vocabularies through specialization. That way, people 
> who don't need them don't have to include them while people who do 
> need them can have broad interoperability on the basis of the 
> established vocabulary.
>
> The specific proposal is to introduce a DITA <unknown> element with a 
> content model that allows any content. Specializers can then 
> specialize the root elements of foreign vocabularies from this 
> <unknown> element. The default behavior of the <unknown> element might 
> be to process the content of any child <section> element. That way, 
> the specializer can provide a specialized <section> element that 
> provides textual content to be used in place of the foreign content, 
> thereby preserving the intelligibility of the topic when sent to a 
> DITA adopter who isn't using the foreign vocabulary.
>