RE: [xsl] example for xsl:output saxon:next-in-chain

[Wendell Piez <wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 01:03 PM 2/10/2005, you wrote:
> > This is the kind of thing Mike means by needing to know how you are
> > invoking the transformation.
>
> Yes, it's partly a polite way of trying to find out if people have done
> something really stupid, without asking them if they are really stupid. But
> also, when people tell you the whole story, the answer leaps out at you:
> "Ah, you're using the deprecated saxon:widget feature! That was never
> intended to work with saxon:gadget!".

Well yes, exactly. "Stupidity" turns out to be very context-dependent, 
especially when the context is as rarified as this one.

Personally I find it remarkable and interesting how the "stupidity" seems 
to be regarded as such a contemptible vice, at least in Western culture. 
(Or maybe it's more universal: calling someone stupid is one of the worst 
things you can say to them in Japan, too.) Particularly as our endeavors 
get more and more arcane, and we all grow more and more stupid as a 
consequence. (I dread the day, coming soon I fear, when it will be regarded 
as "stupid" not to have internalized the XSD data-typing specifications.)

Better simply to acknowledge that it's good practice to be thorough ... it 
feels much more stupid to find the stupid error after days of looking for a 
smart one, when one might have found it immediately. I always try to assume 
first I'm making the stupid mistake: it keeps me looking smart, because I 
find the inevitable stupidities more quickly with less fuss. Sometimes I'm 
the only one who knows how dumb I am.

Cheers,
Wendell


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Wendell Piez                            mailto:wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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