dtd design (element or attribute)

[ozane]

hi, i am designing a DTD file. but i have hesitations.
i placed child elements as attributes. but as far as the examples are concerned about my purpose, designers didnt use attributes, they used child element. what is the difference?? which way should i prefer?
example (elemet):
<! element a (b*, c*)>
<!elemen a (#PCDATA)>
<!element b (#PCDATA)>

(attribute)
<! element a (b*, c*)>
<!element a(#PCDATA)>
<!attribute a b CDATA #IMPLIED c CDATA #IMPLIED>

 

[JontyMC]

Either way, its up to you and doesnt really matter. Personally I try to stick to using elements as they are extensible and also to make the processing more consistent, but in most cases there is nothing wrong with using attributes.

 

[flumpy]

Nodes are conceptual entities or objects in their own right; eg. books, people, etc

Attributes are there to assign properties to a node; eg. people have names or userids, books that have ISDN and ID numbers.

Conceptually, if you can break down your problem as if you're breaking down objects in a programming language then you're on the right tracks, but Jonty is essentially right - there is no right way really.