[MEI-L] symbol/symbolDef

[TW]

I'd like to ask for your opinion on some aspects of the usersymbols
module as I'm in charge of its guidelines.

I'm not particularly clear how the relationship between <symbolDef>
and <symbol> is meant to work.  <symbolDef> mustn't be an empty
element, so I might want to put a <symbol> element inside that might
have a @facs attribute to point to a graphical example representation
of the symbol.  But this <symbol> element is required to have a @ref
attribute which must be "a reference to a previously-declared
user-defined symbol".  The dog seems to chase its tail, right?

One use case I see for <symbol> is if we have a scribe who uses some
unusual symbols that might possibly not be fully understood.  Then I
might want to give some textual information about what meaning my
research has suggested or what use pattern can be recognized.  Would I
do this with an <annot>, pointing to <symbolDef> by means of @plist?

Thanks for your help!
Thomas Weber