RE: [xsl] XSLT WYSIWYG WEB Editor

Subject: RE: [xsl] XSLT WYSIWYG WEB Editor
From: "Michael Kay" <mike@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2006 17:59:29 -0000
> This is kind of like asking for the kitchen equipment that 
> can be used by people who don't know how to cook.

I agree.

I did once review a system that tried to do this (I forget its name, it's
long since disappeared from the scene). It was visually very slick, but I
found it impossible to do any useful styling beyond what could be achieved
with CSS. I couldn't even get a basic sort to work without peeking at the
XSLT code that was being generated, and it quickly degenerated into a
guessing game of trying to work out what all the buttons meant by pressing
them and seeing what code they generated.

But then I'm not really a very visual person. I find the visual mapping
editors in products like XMLSpy and Stylus Studio much harder to use than
the raw syntax, because I can never remember what all the icons mean, but I
can remember raw syntax. Others presumably differ. But even if you like the
visual style, you can't construct logical predicates unless you know the
difference between "and" and "or", and that tends to be where
non-programmers trip up whatever interface they are using.

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/

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