Re: XML is broken (was Re: Why Doesn't IE5 use the DTD toVa

[Guy_Murphy@xxxxxxxxxx]

xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx on 04/05/99 05:01:58 AM

To:   xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
cc:    (bcc: Guy Murphy/UK/MAID)
Subject:  Re: XML is broken (was Re: Why Doesn't  IE5 use the DTD toVa

Hi Chris.

I agree with you wholeheartedly. When initialy looking at doing an XLink
implimentation for IE5 I was shocked to realise that it didn't support
exactly what you describe (it seems kinda obvious), so ended up extending
the XLink syntax.

What I ended up with looks something like....

     <xl:link type="extended" actuate="user" inline="true" title="A really
interesting document">
          <xl:loc name="art1" ref="xml/articles/dmr1.xml" role="data" />
          <xl:loc name="art2" ref="xml/articles/dmr2.xml" role="data" />
          <xl:loc name="artS1" for="art1" ref="xsl/article.xsl"
role="style" />
          <xl:loc name="artS2" for="art2" ref="xsl/article.xsl"
role="style" />
          <xl:loc for="artS1" ref="#holder1" role="target" show="embed" />
          <xl:loc for="artS2" ref="#holder2" role="target" show="embed" />
          a link
     </xl:link>

... which needs tidied up, but basically describes the building of a
composite view to be instantiated (I plan to allow multiple
ids declard in the idref giving for="art1,art2" giving the resulting views
in the above art1_artS1 and art2_artS2).

(a working example of the above can be found at
http://www.guy-murphy.easynet.co.uk/xlink.htm)

Support for actuate="auto" should go in this week, and out-of-line link
next week. I am still figuring out all the different permutations
brought to the table by exntensible linking, so I'm loathe to go to far
oout on a limb, but what I will say is that for utilisation with
multiple data sets, and multiple stylesheets, XLink simply doesn't go far
enough to be really useful.

I got very excited by your post, as until now I haven't been able to
express the problem, or rather term the solution clearly enough
(my workmates still think I'm babbling), but your terming of a link
manifest sums it up well.

Have you done any work in this area that you could show. If so I'd be most
interested.

[As a side note I will be relabeling this work AlmostXLink (AXL) ASAP so as
 to avoid confusion with the existing XLink draft).

Cheers
     Guy.






[SNIP]

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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