Re: XS: Guidelines for the discussion

Subject: Re: XS: Guidelines for the discussion
From: Paul Prescod <papresco@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 19:52:30 -0400
Alex Milowski wrote:
> Remember, there is more than James out here working on DSSSL.

Quite true.
 
> We should also think about a XT spec.  DSSSL transformations for XML!

I'm not so sure about this. The chance of implementation in major
browsers seems minimal. The transformation language is quite hard to
understand. Obviously the style language was designed to be highly
intellectually "scalable" from simple CSS-style stylesheets to complex
style transformations, which is why I always argue that it is not really
more difficult (in the simple cases) then CSS-style languages. But the
transformation language seems quite intellectually sparse. You read the
10 pages -- totally understand them, and then set to using it.
 
> We should start by looking at the formatting *features* we want to support
> and then look at the best way to support them within the DSSSL standard and
> outside of the DSSSL standard (i.e. application flow objects).
> 
> We should build a list of requirements for XS including what kinds of
> formatting we need in a browser/etc.  I certainly have a list (potentially
> a long list).

I agree that we need a larger view of goals and architecture to make
reasonable decisions. If our target audience is people with the
commitment of traditional SGML-users, then DSSSL doesn't need to change
too much. If we want to get many of the CSS users, then it should change
radically. I think that if we want the Perl/C hackers in between it
should also change a lot, but I know that that position is
contraversial.
 
> Being on this list and the XML list, I'm really beginning to *hate* mailing
> lists.  If I am away for a few days it is *impossible* to catch up!
> 
> ...I realize e-mail is the lowest common denominator... but a web-based
> threaded discussion group would be *much* better... for me at least.  ;-)

How is it easier to "catch up" on a web based group? Since the mailing
list contributions sit physically on your machine you should be able to
organize them better. I can: I have filters, folders and flags set up.

 Paul Prescod


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