Hi Folks,

Excellent discussion!  

I revised the example, based on your comments:


EXAMPLE OF BUSINESS INTERESTS INFLUENCING A DATA SPECIFICATION AND THE
RESULTANT XML DATA DESIGN

During the course of developing a particular data specification a SME
states, 

     There are three methods of payment that our 
     company accepts: Paypal, money order, or 
     cashier's check.

The SME's statement is added to the data specification.

Then, a business person reads the statement and says: 

     Our company has a partnership with Paypal. 
     We earn money each time a customer pays using 
     Paypal. While we do accept the other payment 
     methods, we earn no money with them. So, be 
     sure to add a sentence that Paypal is the 
     preferred payment method.

As a result of this business interest, another sentence is added to the
data specification:

     There are three methods of payment that our 
     company accepts: Paypal, money order, or 
     cashier's check. However, the preferred
     method is Paypal.


IMPLEMENTATION

Without the input from the business person, the data specification is
translated into this implementation:

   <Accepted-Payment-Methods>
       <Method>Paypal</Method>
       <Method>money order</Method>
       <Method>cashier's check</Method>
   </Accepted-Payment-Methods>

However, because of the input from the business person, the data
specification is translated into this implementation:

   <Accepted-Payment-Methods>
       <Method preferred="true">Paypal</Method>
       <Method preferred="false">money order</Method>
       <Method preferred="false">cashier's check</Method>
   </Accepted-Payment-Methods>

Note that an attribute - preferred - is added to each <Method> element
to indicate whether or not the payment method is preferred.

Thus we see an example of a business interest impacting a data
specification and the resultant XML data design.


QUESTION

Is this revised version a legitimate example of a business interest
influencing a data specification and the resultant XML data design?

/Roger