Subject: Re: New/old pattern syntax, why can't we have both ? From: Paul Prescod <papresco@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1998 21:43:43 -0500 |
Pasqualino "Titto" Assini wrote: > > The main, and correct, argument being that as it doesn't conform to XML > syntax. That is not at all true. Are you claiming that valid XSL documents are not valid XML documents? Be careful how you throw around the word "conform." What you mean is that the new syntax does not express all of its hierarchical structure through XML elements and attributes. But so what? We aren't going to reinvent URLs into XML syntax. Nor mime types. Nor HTTP messages. The line between a query and a URL is pretty vague, as XPointer demonstrates. > The new syntax should be seen as a shorthand for the full, verbose, XML > form. This makes perfect sense if you come at this from the WWW point of view. If you come at it from a slightly different point of view, however, you'll see it differently. Consider: * nobody will ever look at the "output" XML of the expansion * what you *really* want is a common API between queries and XML * actual, textual syntax is irrelevant * even as an API, encoding the query in terms of elements and attributes is needlessly verbose and inefficient Why not just make an API that can express both queries and XML? While we're at it, why not throw in other media types like PDF, CGM, MPEG and XML DTD syntax? Then we could use the best syntax for each data type, but use a common API for processing it. Check out my SIG. There is one important reason not to invent such an API: it already exists. James Clark, one of the two editors of XSL, invented that API several years ago (more or less...the API is a straightforward application of the data model). It is even an ISO standard. All languages in the SGML standard are now described in terms of it. It is breathtakingly simple and yet powerful and very general. As I said in my XML Developer's Conference talk: "I've got your freaking API right here! Use it!" Paul Prescod - http://itrc.uwaterloo.ca/~papresco ISOGEN International Corporation: "We Transcend Syntax." XSL-List info and archive: http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list
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