Let me see if I have this right:

Gregor wants to have a set of 'special states', globally applicable, that one can use to "score" the fact that e.g. one is not going to score a particular taxon x character:

Leaf shape

ovate

elliptic

obovate

not scored (won't be scored)

not scored (will score later)

not scored (can't be coded)

{note- these "special states" won't actually appear in the character list like this - they'll be defined separately, but the effect will be the same}

Taxon x: code as "not scored (will score later)"

Steve Shattuck wants instead to have a modifying flag that can be set for the taxon x character cell in the data matrix, which flags that this cell is not going to be scored.

Leaf shape

ovate

elliptic

obovate

Taxon x: not coded (flagged as "will score later")

It strikes me that

1. in some ways these two suggestions are very similar (whether the thing goes into the taxon x character cell or is attached to it is immaterial from a data point of view).

2. the real difference is in where their values are defined. Gregor's "special states" are defined in the instance document, while Steve's flags are (I assume) defined in the schema.

Does this make a difference?

Cheers - k