RE: Style-sheet documentation?

["Didier PH Martin" <martind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Mark

Nothing is said about attaching a style sheet with a processing instruction
in the DSSSL specs. James created this in its Jade implementation. Actually,
James is the principal editor for the XML stylesheet linking specs at W3. W3
specs state (this is still a proposal) that a XML document can be linked to
a style sheet with a xml-stylesheet processing instruction. In the previous
proposal it was xml:stylesheet. So, linkage to a style sheet with a PI is:
a) a W3 spec (work in progress) and concern only XML documents and not SGML
documents.
b) a Jade implementation feature
c) a SGMLKit implementation feature.

The main difference between the previous Jade implementation feature and the
SGMLKit implementation feature is:
a) In Jade you can specify the stylesheet location (href property) and the
style sheet type (the type property) obviously only the "test/dsssl" type is
supported by the actual implementation of Jade. With Jade, you cannot
specify in the processing instruction the output format type. You have to
set this with a command line parameter (ex: -t rtf, -t text, -t fot, -t
xml, -t sgml and -t html is you compiled it with HTML option)
b) in the SGMLKit you can specify the output type directly in the stylesheet
processing instruction with the "format" property (ex: format="rtf") however
some discussion in the XSL group lead us to modify this experimental scheme
with a new one more "in tune" with the current W3 proposal based on previous
HTMLM 4 CSS specs. In this W3 spec, the media property should contain some
keywords like "screen", "printer" etc... These keywords indicates to a
browser the target device (i.e. a printer for "print" a monitor for
"screen"). The specs also explicitly says that this property can be expanded
with new keywords that further specify the rendering environement like for
example specifying that you need 3d Glasses to look a the rendered document.
We are then, using this expansion capability to specify the rendering format
or the dsssl output format. Thus according to this spec, SGMLKit would
accept as a valid processing instruction:

<?xml-stylesheet href="..Common/myScripts.dsl" type="text/dsssl"
media="screen, rtf" ?>

href = a URI, in the actual implementation only a URL not all protocols only
HTTTP and file. It also accept a file system identifier. like in the example
it also support relative path from the current directory. The relative
directory being in the case of the SGMLKit, the directory where the document
is located.
type = MIME or Content Type. "text/CSS" is not a IATA registered MIME but is
accepted (according to the W3 spec), "text/xsl" also and finaly the last but
not the least "text/dsssl". The type property is not limited to solely these
style types but could also be something like "application/x-omnimark" or
more simply "text/omnimark", "application/x-balise" or more simply
"text/balise" and so on... Actually, the SGMLKit recognize only the CSS, XSL
and DSSSL types. On IE 5.x we route the document to microsoft CSS,XSL style
engine and DSSSL to our version of Jade. The SgmlKit allows dsssl rendering
on either IE 4.x or IE 4.x platforms. We are working on a Mozilla
implementation but Mozilla is too unstable now to be release as part of our
SGMLKit (but our module is working, only we get bugs with the rendering
engine a CSS, this should be OK, I hope in 3 to 5 month if things progress
at the same rate as today). Microsoft IE 5.x engine do not recognize the
latest W3 specs so a PI should then be beginning with <?xml:stylesheet...?>
to work with Microsot style engine. Thus, with the SGMLKit, on IE 5.x you
are not restricted to XSL and CSS styles but also your document can be
associated to a dsssl style sheet and rendered as well as XSL or CSS. IN
fact, the latest release we posted on the Web include a demo showing the
same output seen in the browser and produced by a DSSSL and a XSL style
sheet.

You can get more info on how to associate stylesheets to XML document form
W3 at: http://www.w3.org/TR/PR-xml-stylesheet but for SGML documents, it is
not as specific. We have provided to different mechanism to associate a
dsssl style to a XML document
a) a processing instruction as stated above
b) a SCRIPTS file entry that associates a DOCTYPE to a template command
line. wWe intentionnaly kept the old Jade command line format with new
template variables like $DOCVIEW indicating rendering in the document
explorer DocView or the Browser and $SCRIPTS_DIR indicating the current
scripts directory. All scripts could be stored either in the same directory
or in an other directory under this one. All other parameters are the same
as Jade. This last feature relax the need to include a style sheet reference
in the document. Only the DOCTYPE declaration is necessary in the document
(as you already know especially for SGML documents) and thus, real document
independence of you documents to external rendering is kept and therefore
fulfill the original SGML goals. W3 do not share the same goals at least
presently (they have too to deal with a user base and provide backward
compatibility with the Web). However, I should say that they share the same
goal on the long term. But as you know, the SGML community has some steps
forwards on this topic :-)

I hope this message gives you a more complete answer.

regards
Didier PH Martin
mailto:martind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.netfolder.com

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dssslist@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-dssslist@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Wroth, Mark
Sent: Friday, January 29, 1999 10:35 AM
To: 'dssslist@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'
Subject: Style-sheet documentation?


Can anyone point me to an explanation of the syntax/usage of the various
bits of the DSSSL style-sheet specification?  I have figured out that
there are ways to "include" style-specifications in multiple other style
specifications from some of the comments on this list, and have even
gotten a very simple example to work, mostly through experimentation.
But I don't understand what's going on, especially with specifications
which may be based on other files, and I have been unable to figure out
where this behavior is documented.

Thanks,

Mark


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