[Spatialml-discussion] requirement of id attributes

[<gj...@al...>]

Justin Richer wrote:
> ...it's our position that every element SHOULD have an id, since an  
> external language might, say, string multiple PATHs and LINKs  
> together.
> [...]
> Maybe we need to say this a bit stronger in the guideline documents?

I would argue just the opposite: while ids might be necessary in some  
cases, and might be desirable, the fact that they're not always  
necessary means they shouldn't be a requirement.  It's just an  
application of the general principle of minimizing requirements.   
It's easy to imagine scenarios in which placenames might be marked up  
without using LINKs or other structures requiring ids, and hence the  
additional requirement would represent an unnecessary burden (and it  
is quite a burden, given the uniqueness requirement of ids).

-Greg