Re: Heresy? Re: DSSSL WWW Enhancements

[lee@xxxxxx]

> Let's moot a couple of heretic ideas.
> 
> Syntax less like Lisp?

I agree with the points you make here.

We've tried to sell a LISP-based customisation language (Sculptor)
for our SGML editor (Author/Editor) for several years, and although
we _have_ made quite a few sales, it's never easy.

Years ago I used some functional languages that had syntaxes much
more like ALGOL or C, and preferred them greatly.

To some extent I'd favour a C or Java or Perl-like syntax!

(if c s1 s2)		if (c) {
			    s1;
			} else {
			    s2;
			}

(f a1 a2 .... an)	f(a1, a2, ... an)

(list a b c)		("a", "b", "c") # this is the Perl syntax

and so on.

This can (at least in theory) be done with a separate parser
producing the same internal representations as today.  I haven't
looked inside Jade to know if it'd work like that there.

Scheme is technically a good choice for working with SGML,
but people don't choose software on technical merit alone.
If DSSSL style sheets were hidden behind dialogue boxes, it
wouldn't matter what they looked like, bu the fact is that they
aren't and aren't likely to be for some time -- it's too hard in
general.

> Non-Programmatic DSSSL Profile?
> ================================

Isn't this DSSSL-O?
I think we need more experience before coming up with this one, though.

I didn't understand one comment:
> Programmatic transformations of arbitrary DSSSL code *is* a PITA.
Pita is a kind of middle-eastern bread, right???

> [...] I suppose there could be a small class of complicated procedures
> that depend on the browser window (or page's) width, but I have not
> run into a need for these procedures yet.
More functions could be suplied.

If you wanted to use mediaeval-style margin proportions, as per
much book work, you'd need the proportions of the visible screen area.
See Tschicholde's Form of the Book for examples.  You can actually
do this by dividing the page into ninths (say), without the
trigonometry or square rooting that seems necesary at first sight:
I was mistaken in this regard at the Dog Sled meeting, and would
no longer argue that sin and sqrt should be included for that
purpose.

Lee


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