The WRITE-STATUS attribute is your view into the error status of a SAX-writer object. The value of the attribute is interpreted differently depending upon the value of the STRICT attribute. When STRICT is set to TRUE, any method call that would result in invalid XML sets the WRITE-STATUS attribute to SAX-WRITE-ERROR. When STRICT is FALSE, only errors that prevent the write from starting or raise exceptions set the WRITE-STATUS attribute to SAX-WRITE-ERROR. Essentially, STRICT = TRUE is more sensitive and useful for development and troubleshooting mode.

STRICT = FALSE will only stop a document from being written if the error prevents the write from starting or continuing and may be a better choice for production mode.

If the SAX-writer does have a status of SAX-WRITE-ERROR, only the methods which reinitialize the object can be called: SET-OUTPUT-DESTINATION and RESET. The object attributes will still be readable and writable.