[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] RE: Documents and Document Fragments (Was RE: XML Information Set Req ui
Hi Mark <YourComment> ..... We now treat our web servers logically as 'XML servers', with either one massive document on or thousands of smaller ones, whichever way you want to slice it. </YourComment> <Reply> If I understand you well, what you are saying is that a stream could start with the processing instruction <?xml version="1.0"?> the PI indicates that the format following the PI is now a XML format. Then the processor at the other end of the stream would process each begin-end markups as small information units. Is it what you are saying? The concept seems appealing and easy to implement. I guess that the problem resides with the word document and the meaning legacy that this word convey (about 5000 years with the notion of a document as a physical entity with ink on it :-). In our specs we are doing what marketing people call "name extension" use the same word everywhere because it sells. It seems that the word document (again because of all the legacy meaning) convey restricted understanding of what we can do with XML. Probably, "information unit" would be more appropriate. I understand also that W3C has to operate with legacy too. That legacy is called a file and most of the time we get the implicit equation document = file. I agree that a file could be mentally perceived as closer to a physical (mean here paper) document than a stream which has its physical world equivalent more as a river or as a road. So I guess that the word format would be more versatile and could be adapted either to a document (i.e. file) and to a stream. It would convey the meaning that the content is formatted with xml structure. Then, a markup could be called an information unit and be perceived as a single information unit (obviously). Documents can be constructed with "information units" and stream convey "inforamtion units". This would have the advantage to apply to each world: a) documents = files and b) streams. ------------------ At one time in history we where calling our transportation vehicule a "horse". Imagine the confusion if we where still calling our car a "horse". How would you call a horse then? Is it what we do with the word "document"? ---------------- So Mark, your comment about XML servers is useful as well on the conceptual point of view as on the practical point of view. </Reply> Regards Didier PH Martin mailto:martind@n... http://www.netfolder.com xml-dev: A list for W3C XML Developers. To post, mailto:xml-dev@i... Archived as: http://www.lists.ic.ac.uk/hypermail/xml-dev/ and on CD-ROM/ISBN 981-02-3594-1 To (un)subscribe, mailto:majordomo@i... the following message; (un)subscribe xml-dev To subscribe to the digests, mailto:majordomo@i... the following message; subscribe xml-dev-digest List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (mailto:rzepa@i...)
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