API to formatters and grove engines

[Jean-Xavier Lotthé <mg068-3@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 10:47 17/06/97 -0400,  Paul Prescod wrote:

>DSSSL is first and foremost a stylesheet language -- it just has a programming
>language embedded within it. One of the important goals for a stylesheet 
>language is usage in interactive applicatons like web browsers and word
>processors.
>I think that the right way to achieve this is to integrate the DSSSL flow 
>objects and query language into more traditional languages.
>Then all you really want from DSSSL is the standardized API to 
>formatters and grove engines. Why not just embed
>those APIs in your favourite programming language?

I'm using DSSSL to alter the synthesised speech rendering of SGML documents.
According to the structure of the document, elements may be read by a female
or a male voice for example.
I'm doing this by inserting ASCII control characters in the text passed to
the speech engine with the (literal) instruction.

Whereas my favourite programming language for this prototype is VisualBasic,
I do not understand how to use DSSSL other than by running Jade on the DOS
command line.
I end up with something rather stupid: 
        - I use the GroveBuilder OLE object
          to allow the selection of a node by the user
        - I then run a specific dsl file according to this node

I know there must be a way to avoid this ridiculous nonsense. 
I've read James' document on the generic API to SP but I must admit I did
not really understood it. Furthermore, C++ is not a language I master.

Has someone in the list an example of a VB program using the standardized
API to DSSSL formatters ?
Is it, after all, even possible to access those API with VB ? Do I need to
wait for a formatter OLE object to be available ?

Thanks for helping me out of my ignorance.

Xavier


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