[XML-SIG] Re: Finding _xmlplus in Python 2.3a2

[Thomas B. Passin]

[Martin v. L=F6wis]
>
> It would also be an ongoing source of user confusion: Should I use
> xml.dom.minidom, or _xmlplus.dom.minidom? etc.
>

I think that this, right here, is the crux of the matter.  Should not=
 one
always know which code is being used - at least, if there is a real
possibility of different behavior?  If there might be some difference=
 in
behavior, one should be able to choose which one to use, or at least =
detect
which one so it can be compensated for.

In scripting for browsers, there are a lot of hacks in use to figure =
out
which code to compensate for.

I deduce that I need -

1) An easy, definitive way to determine whether I am using the _xmlpl=
us
stuff or the standard stuff, and
2) A convenient way to force the use of the library code that I want,=
 in
case the automatic machinery should disagree.

I realize that we do not want to mix-and-match parts of the standard =
library
with parts of PyXML, and perhaps that is one of the main concerns tha=
t
Martin is expressing (Martin, is that right?).  But if we override, s=
ay,
expat with our own version and it does not behave the same way as the
standard library, not only will we cause confusion but Python itself =
will
get a bad name very quickly - users will not care that only PyXML cau=
ses
these troubles, they will blame Python generally.

I do not think that any of the alternative proposals so far have disc=
ussed
the mix-and-match issue sufficiently.  The current approach  handles =
it well
except for breakages caused by bugs or API changes.  Martijn, would y=
ou care
to talk about this issue some more from your point of view?

Cheers,

Tom P