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Re: Does WTSIWYG make simplicity moot?

• To: "xml-dev" <xml-dev@l...>
• Subject: Re: Does WTSIWYG make simplicity moot?
• From: "Rick Jelliffe" <ricko@a...>
• Date: Wed, 13 Nov 2002 16:54:48 +1100
• References: <15725CF6AFE2F34DB8A5B4770B7334EE0DF863@h...>

Anthony Coates wrote
> ... don't give me this old line about viewing the source being
> the only true and pure way to do things.  

Paul Prescod wrote
> I think that it is a fallacy that visual is always easier than textual. 

From: Joe English [mailto:jenglish@f...] 
> A point-and-click IDE might be an effective way
> to assemble a working application from prepackaged
> components, but that isn't programming.  I believe
> something similar is true for schema design.

From: "Bullard, Claude L (Len)" <clbullar@i...>
> Elitist. :-)

Maybe there are two tribes:
 
 * one sees XML as a way to allow custom syntax-constraining GUIs
   manipulating objects not code.
 * the other sees XML as a way to *escape* from requiring custom GUIs,
   preferring generic syntax-aware (text- and symbol- and tree-/list-/table- based) tools.

Proponents of the first view might say "WXS is great, because now I have a
clear set of components that I can make icons for and put in a pallette".  Proponents
of the second view might say "the WXS language is badly designed, because its inheritence
structures rely on non-standard reference mechanisms that a generic XML editor
cannot use."   

Perhaps it should be a business question rather than an abstract one.  Custom GUIs
cost time and money and need a maintenance effort; they have a bad name for being
slow, poor with large documents, and inflexible. But sometimes that might be warranted
(i.e. for cashed-up departments,  very static document types--like successful public schemas--, 
and small documents).  However, by the same token, sometimes custom GUIs may be 
counter-productive.

Cheers
Rick Jelliffe

• Follow-Ups:
  • Re: Does WTSIWYG make simplicity moot?
    • From: "Anthony B. Coates" <abcoates@T...>

• References:
  • RE: Does WTSIWYG make simplicity moot? (was Re: dtds, schemas, xhtml, and multimedia technologies)
    • From: "Bullard, Claude L (Len)" <clbullar@i...>

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