Joseph J. Kesselman wrote:
>> Thanks for the reply. As far as I can see in the W3C Schema
>> definition, things are simple -
>> decimal numbers use decimal points, and no option seems to be present
>> for allowing
>> decimal commas. ( at least the regular expression in the  w3c docs is
>> definite about that).
>> It _is_ the simplest solution.
> 
> For data interchange purposes, you want to pick *one* convention. No
> matter which one you pick it's going to disappoint someone, so the
> question winds up being which one's natural for the folks writing the
> spec. And since most spec authors are programmers and most programmers
> (and languages) already expect . as the decimal separator...  More
> directly: There was an existing standard Schema could reference, so they
> referenced it rather than reinventing the wheel.
> 
> Of course user interfaces are free to render the data in other ways. And
> you can use the other convention in XML if you're willing to be
> nonstandard or to simply treat it as text rather than expecting other
> tools to recognize it as the intended number.
> 
> (Someday I should look up how , and . wound up with their functions
> being swapped in some cultures, and check which convention is actually
> older... just for historical interest.)

There is a good thread about the pros and cons of choosing one format
over others in the TEI discussions at:
http://lists.village.virginia.edu/pipermail/tei-council/2005/005397.html

Joe is quite right: pick one, but *document* what you picked, so that
those who come after you can understand it.

///Peter