Re: [xsl] The Future of Browser-Bound XML?

Subject: Re: [xsl] The Future of Browser-Bound XML?
From: Wendell Piez <wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 04 Jul 2002 11:47:15 -0400
Hi Francis,

At 05:54 AM 7/4/2002, you wrote:
I've often wondered whether Adobe Acrobat wouldn't make a nice native XML browser if it had built in FO(and SVG!) support and an XSLT engine. Mind you, I'm not asking them to parse HTML ... wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Well, Adobe make a very nice SVG plug in. It might be possible to make an XSL-FO -> SVG converter - probably not a job for (straight) XSLT as you'd need access to font characteristics in order to do word-placement and wrapping. But an interesting project nonetheless, and you'd get support for embedded SVG for free :)

Yes, I've thought about this too -- and so, apparently, have the FOP team: SVG is one of the rendering options they provide. (When I tried it, back when, it didn't really work, but then that's perhaps overly hopeful.) It's a pretty interesting problem, though I agree XSLT isn't the tool for the job (I can tell that because it makes my head hurt).


We're in a pretty interesting stage at the moment, when the various approaches coming from different directions, with different strengths, are moving side by side and butting up against each other. Throw SVG into an FO formatter; throw FO or some kind of FO-lite into SVG? An HTML/CSS browser as a plugin to an SVG application (it'd be pretty cool if an SVG could have an HTML/XML window in it)?

Short of this, I've been cooking up a little XML system to help me create conference posters. References to (raster) screen shots are pulled together in a generic XML format with language for annotations; then XSLT creates an SVG file out of it that layers the notes on top of the screen shots. Then the whole thing gets pulled into FO for formatting in PDF and printing...

... if this were being done on company time, I might even be able to finish it past the point of just making the poster I have due in two weeks....

Cheers,
Wendell


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