Re: [Springframework-developer] Spring bean factory XML format

[<rod...@in...>]

Isabelle, 

OK, we can change name -> id when defining all beans, and use 
refid for references.

The only problem I see with your syntax below...

<property name="thefoo" refid="foo/>
<property name="moo">moo</property>

...is that I can't see how it would support collections. I 
see this as a major enhancement, possible with the original 
proposal, that had <value> and <ref> subelements.

I can easily change the XML parsing for whatever we agree. 

Regards,
Rod

> Hi Rod,
> 
> There is one thing I do not like about your proposed 
syntax: you use <ref
> name="xxx"> is used in two different contexts, one when you 
define a bean
> that can serve as a reference, and once when you refer to 
such a bean from
> another bean.
> That's confusing. It would be better to define with for ex. 
an id attribute,
> and reference with a refid attribute:
> 
> <bean name="foo" id="foo"/>
> <bean name="bar" id="bar">
>   <property name="thefoo" refid="foo/>
>   <property name="moo">moo</property>
> </bean>
> <bean name=baz>
>   <property name="bla">blabla</property>
> </bean>
> 
> Note that bean bar can in turn be referenced from other 
beans, thanks to its
> id attribute. Bean baz cannot be referenced, because it 
doesn't have an id
> attribute.
> 
> A validating parser will not help you make sure that bean 
foo really exists
> when referenced, and neither will a DTD.
> 
> Isabelle