RE: [xsl] sum function and math expressions

["Aron Bock" <aronbock@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Wendell,

Please take what I wrote as an expression of what I liked about your 
responses rather than one of of what I disliked about anybody else's.

That said, since you [possibly deliberately disingenuously :-) ] stress the 
point, my aside about responding to the spirit of a question versus its 
letter was that were somebody to ask "Can I buy two sheeps somewhere in 
Thessaloniki?", a response of "I don't know whether you 'can', and there is 
no such thing as 'sheeps'!" would be correct, pedantic ... and nearly 
useless.

Pedantry is fine.  Pedagody is preferred.  It is especially appreciated when 
elucidated enough to obviate clerical editorials by the original poster.  Of 
course, I've seen examples of this as well--for example some posts to 
today's thread on 'test for number'.

Again, this was just an aside.  I'll humbly accept knowledge from wherever I 
can :-)  And we return us to our regularly scheduled programming.

Regards,

--A

> From: Wendell Piez <wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Don't be so hard on the "heavies" though! There are reasons for pedantry, 
> sometimes excellent reasons, and if others weren't willing to be pedantic I 
> would have to be more so. (And it's hard work keeping all those facts 
> straight!)
>
> I accept and appreciate that pedantry goes down much better in a supportive 
> environment, and that it's sometimes difficult to achieve or assume that in 
> the weird VR-that-is-email ... but we do best when we assume that even 
> brusquely worded responses are meant in a spirit of generosity -- and then 
> we usually discover, when we have a chance, that we were right.

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