Microsoft has responded to David Brownell's report on their Msxml.dll XML parser's conformance to
the OASIS XML
Conformance test suite.
Brownell's article, a followup to a previous article on XML.com that tested Java
parsers, found
that Msxml.dll, the COM version of Microsoft's parser, did
much better than its now mostly-defunct Java partner.
Msxml.dll ships
with Internet Explorer, and a slightly
revised version ships with Windows 2000 and Internet
Explorer 5.01.
Microsoft acknowledged that some conformance failures,
notably in character checking, were due to performance
trade-
offs, while claiming others were easily fixed by developers
using the parser with a few lines of code. Microsoft's
insistence on namespace support also cost it a few cases
that were legitimate XML 1.0 but not acceptable in a
namespace-aware environment.
Microsoft closed their conformance discussion by
criticizing 17 of the tests, arguing that they were related
to either namespace support or 'hotly contested differences
of opinion about how to interpret the XML
specification.'
Developers using the Msxml.dll parser can be reassured
that it passed most of the tests, but may want to read both
the original article and the Microsoft response to gauge
interoperability if documents will be processed by multiple
parsers.
Late updates:
- Steve Newcomb posted a message to XML-dev on interoperability
issues and their importance.
- David Brownell posted a response to Microsoft's article on
XML-dev with his initial reactions and a more detailed reply.