Re: [xsl] xslt namespace

[Wendell Piez <wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Jon,

At 10:46 AM 10/10/01, you wrote:
> my main problem is with the xsl namespace (i know what a namespace is). i
> always use xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"; but i also see
> xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-xsl"; which i assume is a working draft. 
> but is
> WD-xsl xsl or xslt?

Really, it's neither. One language that uses that namespace (undoubtedly 
the source of your problems, since no other implementation that recognizes 
the namespace survives in real-world use; they were all upgraded or 
shelved) is called "XSL" by its vendor; this language is somewhat related 
to one of the XSL working drafts. (I say "somewhat" because even for the 
few months when it was current, it was partial and also contained 
proprietary extensions.)

In a post yesterday, I suggested that if XSL is cheese, this other language 
is a soy-based Cheese Food Product.

>  i'm using the gnome libxsl and it doesn't like the
> WD-xsl but people keep sending me stuff with WD-xsl in saying how simple 
> things
> aren't working and can i fix it.

That's a pity: join the ranks of the firefighters. This particular blaze 
has been burning on-and-off ever since that "XSL" was first released.

As a preventative, you might try to discern how these people are educating 
themselves about XSL, to see whether there's anything you can do to steer 
them clear of "WD-xsl". Unfortunately the problem is general and very 
widely felt.

>  i was thinking maybe if they were using an
> xsl-fo namespace they might not be getting all the xslt elements.

Nope, that has nothing to do with it.

> i know there's nothing at "http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-xsl"; but from a user
> point of view it would be logical to put either the spec there or a note about
> what it is. i've gone to the w3 site but it's full of so much fud about
> different things i can't tell what is current, what is redundant and what is a
> prototype. is there a simple list anywhere, and have they changed the version
> system to something more ummm... standard?

W3C doesn't document this problem for ... any number of reasons, one 
imagines. (It's hard to know where to start.)

But the archives of this list are replete with various efforts to dampen 
any reliance on that language-called-by-its-vendor-"XSL".

> xml is *nearly* as bad as java for all the silly buzz words.

Sadly true, but what's the alternative? the evolution of technology *is* 
the evolution of language.

Cheers,
Wendell



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Wendell Piez                            mailto:wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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