[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Re: external parsed entites (was: A unique ID question ?)
"Steven R. Newcomb" wrote: > ... > > However, reality intrudes. Most information is architected > suboptimally. I think it would be a mistake to discard external > parsed entities. I think XML needs to have features that let people > do silly things (like evilly putting all the documentation of a > weapons system into a single 190,000-page document) without causing > every XML application to blow a gasket. Just about every XML application will blow a gasket with or without external parsed entities. The "applications" that external parsed entities help are file transmission and storage applications: browsers, file transfer engines and file systems. These software components typically have MUCH GREATER CAPACITIES than the applications that work with the XML logical structure. With all due respect, I feel more comfortable using FTP to transfer a 1 GB document than I would stuffing that into Excelon, Internet Explorer, an XSLT engine or anything else that works with the logical model (other than SAX). > We need the means to permit > evil to exist in order to avoid creating a worse evil: the perception > that XML is insufficiently robust to handle real situations, no matter > how evil they are. XML tools *are* insufficiently robust and external entities in no way help to alleviate that problem. If anything, they make the problem worse by encouraging people to make their XML documents larger than tools can handle. A component approach is much safer. On the other hand, while I agree with Eliot that external entities are more hassle than they are worth, they are occasionally useful on smallish problems where you can manage the ID namespace manually and want separate editing of chapters etc. In other words, since we have them one shouldn't avoid them supersitiously. Just learn what they are good for (small, hand-maintained projects) and not good for (large scale component reuse). If I could take them out, I would though. -- Paul Prescod - ISOGEN Consulting Engineer speaking for himself http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/txconst/sections/cn000100-000400.html "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, in this State; nor shall any one be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being." - Texas Constitution, Article 1, Section 4 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 unsubscribe, mailto:majordomo@i... the following message; unsubscribe 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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