[xmlsec] XPATH and Visa 3D-secure specification

Jesse Pelton jsp@PKC.com
Thu, 25 Sep 2003 08:40:58 -0400


Hmph.  Visa's case, I guess, is that their "id" attribute is not an ID.

<rant>
This is technically true, but they're acting like Humpty-Dumpty, who claimed
a word meant whatever he wanted it to.  "id" is a widely used term with a
generally accepted connotation, and they're using it differently, which is
simply begging for misinterpretation and confusion.

I gather that the situation is made worse by the fact that it would be
useful for this element to have an ID.  Thanks to their misappropriation of
a common name, it appears to, but in fact does not.

In other words, what they've done is:

1) apparently completely legal, and
2) misleading and useless.

In short, a stupid programming trick.

Now, I could be wrong about the legal bit.  I haven't looked at their spec,
but if they're claiming to have an ID attribute on their element that can be
used in a DSig Reference, they're flat-out wrong, whether willfully or due
to ignorance or incompetence.

I know you're not the first to encounter this; that's why I'm ranting.
</rant>

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Slava Kostin [mailto:sk_home@mail333.com] 
> Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2003 8:13 AM
> To: Jesse Pelton
> Subject: Re[2]: [xmlsec] XPATH and Visa 3D-secure specification
> 
> 
> ...they don't think that's a mistake with
> definition of "id" attribute as "CDATA" :-(
> And element CDATA have not to satisfy with name production rules.
> 
> I'm not the first who've such problem, unfortunately.