[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] RE: XML for forms
Don, Yeah...I think it has probably been a year since we've last spoken. Time flies...I'm sure we've both been more than busy. Your points are well taken, and appropriate. I agree with your perspective on the value of using a modular approach based upon best of breed implementation technologies to building solutions, and I think that any developer of a new XML language would be served with starting their efforts by understanding how they are going to achieve success in light of such an approach. However, forms are strangely complex objects that must rely upon some combination of a dizzying array of technologies. High-fidelity graphics, text processing / document flow, scripting, navigation management, workflow, data source integration, third-party software controls (ActiveX, Beans) etc. etc. Not all users/customers require all of these technologies -- a simple web form may require very few. A regulatory form in a complex workflow terminating in the update of a database may require more. Clearly, such a problem space is not served by trying to (re)invent so many wheels. But, it is well served by describing the high level abstraction or model of a form and the framework within which you can use off-the-shelf technologies as listed above. The benefit should be that as the individual implementation technologies change/improve/die that the overall abstraction or model should not change, or at least change less than if it were based solely upon the bare amalgamation of the technologies themselves. It provides you a consistent model which can be translated to the amalgam of implementation technologies that are appropriate to you. So yes...I agree with you...building non-monolithic solutions upon best of breed implementation technologies (XHTML, SVG, XSLT) is viable, and IMHO more successful when coupled with a modeling language that describes the solution independent of any particular implementation. Gavin. > -----Original Message----- > From: Don Park [mailto:donpark@q...] > Sent: Monday, July 05, 1999 4:18 PM > To: 'Gavin McKenzie'; xml-dev@i... > Subject: RE: XML for forms > > > Gavin, > > Long time since I heard from ya <g>. > > You are right that XFA/XFDL are not HTML and I am not arguing > that point. > What I neglected to say was that the days of monolithic > standards are over > and that we, the XML developers, should start adopting the > modular approach > used in XHTML and XSL/XSLT. Using this approach, XFA/XFDL can remove > overlaps with XHTML modules and then divide up the remainder > into several > modules. Result would be far more understandable, supportable, and > reusable. > > Small, simple, modular XML standards is what I would like to see. > > Best, > > Don Park > Docuverse > 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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