Re: XML is broken (was Re: Why Doesn't IE5 use the DTD toValidate?)

[Chris Lilley <chris@xxxxxx>]

"John J. Barton" wrote:
> There are two ways to win with separated style
> sheets:
> 
>   1) A powerful and wonderful Style controls many lowly XML docs.
> 
>          *Style*
>        /  |   |  \
>      x1  x2  x3  x4
> 
>   2) A critical and valuable XML doc flows through many styles to glory.
> 
>           *XML*
>         /  |  |  \
>        s1  s2 s3 s4

Which then requires a decision - shoudl all other media (images, sounds,
etc) be considered presentational (and thus, included by the stylesheet)
or content (and thus, included by the document)?

There is a third way

            manifest
         /  |    |    \
        x1 img1  ss1  ss2

This allows documents and stylesheets and images and othe rmedia all to
be reused and to be combined in varous ways.

> Clearly embedding control info works for the first case; that is
> today's web publication model.  The second case just cannot use
> embedded control; this is the data conversion world.

The third case allows different compound documents and different views
to be assembled by never linking direct to the document, but by linking
to a view, a manifest whic in turn links to the pieces needed to realise
that view.

Further structure is also desirable

manifest
  root xml doc
    subsidiary xml doc1
    image 1
    subsidiary xml doc2
       subsidiary xml doc3
  stylesheet alternative one
    stylesheet 11
    stylesheet 12
    image 13
  stylesheet alternative two
    stylesheet 21
    stylesheet 22
    image 23

The mechanism of compound xml documents is clearly transclusion using
XLink, and for stylesheets, import.

In the mean time, this effect can be simulated (as the indelv browser
does)

<?xml version='1.0'?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="../shakespeare.xsl"?>

<id-xml xmlns:dc='http://purl.org/metadata/dublin_core#'>
  <dc:Title>The Taming of the Shrew</dc:Title>
  <auto-link 
      xml:link='simple'
      actuate='auto'
      href='../plays/taming.xml'
      show='embed'/>
</id-xml>

Which adds an embedding control only when it is needed.

--
Chris



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