[jdom-interest] XMLOutputter naming questions

[Alex Chaffee]

On Sun, Oct 01, 2000 at 12:34:17PM -0700, Jason Hunter wrote:
> > Just read TODO.txt: "Write
> > XMLOutputter.serialize(doc/elem/comment/doctype/entity/pi/attrib). 
> > Have
> > these methods replace getSerializedForm().  Going this way allows
> > tweaks to the XMLOutputter behavior before serialization."
> >
> > I think "serialize" is the wrong word; "output" is better for this,
> > since it's consistent with the name of the object, isn't confused with
> > other meanings of "serialize," etc.
> 
> Elliotte, are you still around?  I believe you chose the name
> getSerializedForm() initially.  Do you want to justify the use of
> "serialize"?

While we're at it, I'd like to change

  setOmitEncoding
  setSuppressDeclaration

to

  setShowEncoding
  setShowDeclaration

(a) it's better to be consistent (omit vs. suppress are synonyms)

(b) it's better for a boolean to represent a positive concept, not a
negative concept -- double-negatives are hard


I'd also like the default for encoding to be *not* to show it, but
that may just be my prejudice, since I deal mostly with simple XML
files.  Anyone have a real need for the encoding to be shown by
default?
 
 - A

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