[uf-discuss] mf-currency: negative values

[Justin Maxwell]

Hi all,

In reading the wiki pages regarding currency and measure, I'm not  
finding much info or discussion around the use of negative prefix in  
currency.  Sometimes it is placed before the currency symbol,  
sometimes it is placed after.  In other cases the prefix is not used  
at all and column headers are used to indicate whether the amount is a  
credit (+) or debit (-).

Examples of prefix use:
Chase.com
<td align="right" style="width:80px;">$-243.76</td>

Amex.com
<td class="colAmmount" onclick="fireClick(this, 9)">-172.12</td>

Mint.com
<td class="change">–$16</td>

BofA.com
<span class="textn2">-$8.06</span>

What we're initially proposed to do at Mint.com is this:

<span class="money"><span class="sign">-</span><abbr class="currency"  
title="USD">$</abbr><span class="amount">777</span></span>

defining the attribute "sign".

In a discussion with Guillaume Lebleu privately, he mentioned that the  
distinction here is that the amount itself is not positive or  
negative.  Rather, it is the transaction.  For this, we define it as a  
credit or debit.  Which could lead us to this:

<span class="money"><span class="transaction-type" title="debit">-</ 
span><abbr class="currency" title="USD">$</abbr><span  
class="amount">777</span></span>

I'd like to hear some thoughts from the semantic specialists on this  
list.

Many thanks,
Justin