WG agreed that fn:exactly-one() would have its description updated to match XPath 2.0 spec. Perhaps also worth updating fn:exists() and fn:empty() so their descriptions match XPath 2.0 spec. http://redmine.ogf.org/issues/239 Regards Steve Hanson Architect, IBM DFDL Co-Chair, OGF DFDL Working Group IBM SWG, Hursley, UK smh@uk.ibm.com tel:+44-1962-815848 From: Steve Hanson/UK/IBM To: Mike Beckerle <mbeckerle.dfdl@gmail.com> Cc: "dfdl-wg@ogf.org" <dfdl-wg@ogf.org> Date: 03/11/2014 14:08 Subject: Re: [DFDL-WG] clarification: fn:exactly-one function The main purpose envisaged for fn:exactly-one() was as a guard around off-the-shelf XPath processors. In that scenario, throwing an error is probably required, as what would you do otherwise? If you wanted to return a true/false value could you just use fn:count($arg) eq 1 instead of fn:exactly-one() ? Regards Steve Hanson Architect, IBM DFDL Co-Chair, OGF DFDL Working Group IBM SWG, Hursley, UK smh@uk.ibm.com tel:+44-1962-815848 From: Mike Beckerle <mbeckerle.dfdl@gmail.com> To: "dfdl-wg@ogf.org" <dfdl-wg@ogf.org> Date: 30/10/2014 10:00 Subject: [DFDL-WG] clarification: fn:exactly-one function Sent by: dfdl-wg-bounces@ogf.org According to the DFDL spec, fn:exactly-one returns "True if the provided sequence contains exactly one node/value," which suggests that the function would return false if the sequence contains > or < 1 node/value. The XPath description states that fn:exactly-one "returns $arg if it contains exactly one item. Otherwise, raises an error." It seems of value to have a true/false result, because something that raises an error like this can only be used as an assertion effectively. On the other hand, that's not what XPath does. Mike Beckerle | OGF DFDL Workgroup Co-Chair | Tresys Technology | www.tresys.com Please note: Contributions to the DFDL Workgroup's email discussions are subject to the OGF Intellectual Property Policy -- dfdl-wg mailing list dfdl-wg@ogf.org https://www.ogf.org/mailman/listinfo/dfdl-wg Unless stated otherwise above: IBM United Kingdom Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number 741598. Registered office: PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU Unless stated otherwise above: IBM United Kingdom Limited - Registered in England and Wales with number 741598. Registered office: PO Box 41, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3AU