Schema design

This page contains documentation of the development of the xmal XML schema.

Design considerations

1. The XML document may act as the primary database, with data entered as XML text in a text editor. Therefore:
   • Tags should be named so as to be easy to remember.
   • Tags should be short enough so as to be quick to type
2. The fields should be equivalent where possible to data entities defined by standard schemas (Dublin Core, Darwin Core).
3. As few elements as possible should be used, and recycled for alternative uses. For example, trees in ecological plots should be assigned a tag code that incorporates the plot name in a standard fashion. Their plot location and metadata should be defined under locn.

($Revision: 1.3 $; $Date: 2008/12/11 12:08:02 $)