Re: XSL and Web Native distributed computing

Subject: Re: XSL and Web Native distributed computing
From: "Jonathan Borden" <jborden@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 14:34:47 -0400
Guy:

    I think we agree completely, I use the term 'browser' to mean 'user
agent' but yours is a more correct terminology. The idea that I am trying to
get across is that we should think of the 'browser' not merely as an
'HTML+CSS' document viewer, but rather as a distributed application
platform, and hence the term 'user agent' is more appropriate.

    In terms of 'presentation objects' which address UI, this is where HTML
has started and XUL has extended. There *is* a real need for a 'tree
control' as well as formatted input controls, calendar controls etc. Alot of
what Mozilla is solving with XUL, IE5 solves this via HTCs binary behaviors
and ActiveX. Unfortunately given raw HTML's limitations in the UI area
w.r.t. VB,Delphi, JavaBeans etc, non-standard solutions rise to fill the
void.
    Perhaps these UI presentation language issues would be best standardized
in an eXtensible Presentation Language (XPL) (a politically neutral name) or
is there already an effort to put XUL  etc. on standards track?

Jonathan Borden
http://jabr.ne.mediaone.net


>Hi James.
>
>I am *very* interested in this area, are there any references you can give
>to the document shell and Plan X?
>
>Personaly I'm starting to think less and less in terms of a browser and
>more in terms of a user agent/shell, so examining these ideas would be
>useful.
>
>
>> I read you post with keen interest as it addresses distributed computing,
>> and goes beyond the document-centric view of XML/XSL and considers the
>"Web
>> application". I've been trying to track related areas myself, and firmly
>> believe that FOs are just the starting point, and wondered if others had
>> considered a future set of presentation objects to address GUIs?
>I think this has a lot of promise. I was thinking of this sort of thing
>when
>I made a request last year for FOs for a Tree Control.
>Actually, back in early 1996 (hence pre-XML), when I was working at Sun
>Labs, I proposed a "browser" that bootstrapped itself by downloading Java
>classes and reading configuration information in SGML. The idea was that
>the
>entire GUI and all the functionality would be downloaded in a modular
>fashion so that the "browser" would be entirely extensible (hence the scare
>quotes around browser, because it could in theory become any application by
>downloading the right classes and reading the right SGML).
>This also relates to the "OS as XML document" idea I've proposed in various
>fora (mostly xml-dev) going by the various names of "?berdocument shell"
>and
>"Plan X". Once I get through the current pile of work to do, I'm hoping to
>put some information about this stuff on the Web.
>James



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