Re: alternating tags in a list?

[Paul Prescod <paul@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Reynolds, Gregg" wrote:
> 
> XSL does not translate, transform, fold, spindle, or otherwise mutilate
> in any way, shape or form.  

That isn't what the XSL specification says.

> XSL is intended as a *language* that
> designers may use to communicate design intent - composition and style -
> to machines that understand XSL.  Those machines are under no compulsion
> to build a result tree.  

The first half of XSL is defined as a tree to tree transform. You can
implement with no tree data structure on either side, but that doesn't
change its data and execution model. From the spec: "There are two parts
to the presentation process. First, the result tree is constructed from
the source tree."

> Processors are no more required to actually build
> such stuff internally than relational databases are to build "actual"
> versions of joined virtual tables, or store tables in a sequence of
> bytes.

Nobody claimed that they were. I'm not sure what your point is.

> The "S" in XSL stands for style.  Transformations are necessary for
> style.  That other uses may be made of such transformations is a nice
> side-effect, but a side-effect nonetheless.

The XSL working group has proposed the transformation part of XSL as the
basis for a generalized query and transformation language. Transformations
are likely to be just as important as style. Microsoft, for example, has
implemented transformations and has not (AFAIK) even committed to
implementing the formatting objects.

 Paul Prescod  - ISOGEN Consulting Engineer speaking for only himself
 http://itrc.uwaterloo.ca/~papresco

"Sports utility vehicles are gated communities on wheels" - Anon


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