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Re: Another XML parsing idea? Was: Re: XML Hangover)

  • To: Mukul Gandhi <mukul_gandhi@y...>
  • Subject: Re: Another XML parsing idea? Was: Re: XML Hangover)
  • From: "M. David Peterson" <m.david.x2x2x@g...>
  • Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2005 14:19:38 -0600
  • Cc: Michael Kay <mike@s...>, Pete Cordell <petexmldev@t...>, xml-dev@l...
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  • Reply-to: "M. David Peterson" <m.david.x2x2x@g...>

xml refering another xml
Mukul,

In unfamiliar with the XCP project I would suggest taking about 1/2 a
day and read up on it.

> http://www.x-cp.org/index.html

In googling for XCP I've also come across what at first looked like
the same project as above but with a modified usage of the acronymic
base.  In scanning a bit further it seems that in fact its a
completely different project backed by some bigger names/universities.

> http://www.isi.edu/isi-xcp/

Either way, the reason I suggest reading up on this type of
enhancement to the TCP protocol is because any type of XML-based
inter-process or inter-application communication protocol can benefit
deeply by taking full advantage of a protocol that allows direct
injection of XML "packets" into the underlying framework that is much
more adjustable and controllable at the application level and
therefore more likely to give a considerable amount of advantage to
any sort of XML protocol that sits on top of it.

With that said I should mention that I do have a project underway in
which in some ways is similar to what you may (if I am understanding
your suggestion correctly) be refering to.  Unfortunately this is
quite a long term project, dependent on several other factors which in
and of themselves are long term projects.  As such I wouldnt count on
hearing much to anything about this in the near future.

But don't let that discourage you from developing ideas of what you
may think would be a benefit to the community as: a) we may be talking
about two totally different things, and b) developing new and
innovative ways to accomplish a task is most always beneificial in one
form or another.  Sometimes that means showcasing what doesn't work so
it can be easier to find something that does.  And sometimes is the
exact opposite and it turns into something monumental.  Either is a
good thing and as such if you have something in mind, by all means let
the creative juices flow :)

Cheers :)

On 7/13/05, Mukul Gandhi <mukul_gandhi@y...> wrote:
> Today, we have a paradigm in XML parsing of using APIs
> like SAX or DOM. I was thinking of another approach to
> parse XML documents.
> 
> Can we have a protocol (instead of API) that will talk
> between a application and the XML parser? This shall
> make using a XML parser interoperable to the calling
> application.. We could achieve this "we could have a
> Microsoft XML parser serving Java program's XML
> parsing request.."
> 
> Just now we have APIs like SAX and DOM and proprietary
> Microsoft APIs.. Had we had some protocol similar to
> HTTP, that talked between a application and parser, it
> may help interoperability..
> 
> Is this sensible thinking? Is this idea conceptually
> similar to StAX or .NET XmlReader parsing approach?
> 
> Regards,
> Mukul
> 
> --- Michael Kay <mike@s...> wrote:
> 
> > The URL got truncated
> >
> >
> http://www.idealliance.org/proceedings/xml04/papers/111/mhk-paper.html
> >
> > with ".html" at the end.
> >
> > Michael Kay
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Mukul Gandhi [mailto:mukul_gandhi@y...]
> >
> > > Sent: 13 July 2005 10:02
> > > To: Michael Kay; 'Pete Cordell';
> > xml-dev@l...
> > > Subject: RE:  XSL for non-XML input (Was:
> > Re:
> > >  XML Hangover)
> > >
> > > Hi Mike,
> > >   I get error
> > > HTTP 404 - File not found
> > >
> > > --- Michael Kay <mike@s...> wrote:
> > > >
> > >
> >
> http://www.idealliance.org/proceedings/xml04/papers/111/mhk-paper.htm
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > > Mukul
> > >
> > > >
> > > > Michael Kay
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Going further, observing the idea of using out
> > of
> > > > band data (e.g. schema) to
> > > > provide extra information to complete 'binary
> > XML',
> > > > could XSL (with suitable
> > > > front ends) work on say an ASN.1 encoded X.509
> > > > certificate (and ASN.1
> > > > message definition) and produce, say, a PDF
> > output?
> > > >
> > > > Not that I have a need to do that right now!
> > I'm
> > > > just interested to know
> > > > whether XSL can be used as a kind of universal
> > data
> > > > translator.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks,
> > > >
> > > > Pete.
> > > > --
> > > > =============================================
> > > > Pete Cordell
> > > > Tech-Know-Ware Ltd
> > > >
> > >
> >
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> > > >                          for XML to C++ data
> > binding
> > > > visit
> > > >
> > > > http://www.tech-know-ware.com/lmx
> > > >                          (or
> > http://www.xml2cpp.com)
> > > > =============================================
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: Michael Kay <mailto:mike@s...>
> > > > To: 'Joe Schaffner'
> > <mailto:schaffner.joe@g...>
> > > >  ;
> > > > xml-dev@l...
> > > > Sent: Monday, July 11, 2005 9:00 PM
> > > > Subject: RE:  XML Hangover
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > I've been reading the XML litterature. It's
> > great.
> > > > Just a few comments:
> > > >
> > > > Welcome on board. It's refreshing to get
> > thoughtful
> > > > comments from someone
> > > > who's new to the game.
> > > >
> > > > XSL - XML Stylesheets is divided into two parts,
> > > > XSL-T and XSL-FO.
> > > >
> > > > The T part deals with templates and translation.
> > > > Since HTML is valid XML, I
> > > > guess I can parse my HTML using XSL-T to produce
> > XML
> > > > and vice versa. I don't
> > > > understand why XSL-T refers to "nodes in an
> > output
> > > > tree". This suggests some
> > > > kind of internal representation, but XML is
> > > > perfectly good representation
> > > > language. Don't <templates> merely write XML
> > text to
> > > > stdout?
> > > >
> > > > No, the result tree is completely abstract,
> > there is
> > > > no suggestion of an
> > > > internal representation. In fact, for many XSLT
> > > > processors, the "result
> > > > tree" is represented internally as a stream of
> > > > events, not as a linked
> > > > collection of objects in memory. This concept of
> > > > writing a tree, rather than
> > > > writing text, however is extremely important.
> > > > Firstly, it defines a
> > > > separation of the information content of an XML
> > > > document from the accidental
> > > > aspects of its lexical representation -
> > something
> > > > that is sadly missing from
> > > > the XML spec itself. In turn, this gives you a
> > basis
> > > > for defining a concise
> > > > set of operators that are in some sense
> > complete,
> > > > composable and exhibit
> > > > closure. In practical terms, it gives you the
> > > > ability to write a series of
> > > > transformations - a pipeline - in which the
> > > > expensive steps of serializing
> > > > and parsing intermediate results can be
> > eliminated.
> > > >
> > > > Roughly, the process seems to work like this:
> > the T
> > > > processor does a
> > > > recursive descent of the source XML. At each
> > node it
> > > > evaluates the set of
> > > > templates. Those templates which match the name
> > of
> > > > the "current" tag are
> > > > processed, in some order. The template writes
> > text,
> > > > that's why it's called a
> > > > "template. The recursive descent is continued
> > with
> > > > an <apply-templates> tag
> > > > inside the template. This allows you to balance
> > > > output.
> > > >
> > > > It doesn't have to do a recursive descent of the
> > > > source XML: that's up to
> > > > the application, though a recursive descent is
> > the
> > > > most common design
> > > > pattern. And it definitely doesn't write text:
> > > > people who create a mental
> > > > model of writing text eventually get a rude
> > > > awakening, usually when they
> > > > first try to tackle grouping problems.
> > > >
> > > > If no matches are found, the T processor
> > continues
> > > > the descent.
> > > >
> > > > There is a <template> tag (I forget what) which
> > will
> > > > select arbitrary paths
> > > > in the souce tree, and there are tags which
> > iterate
> > > > through the result.
> > > >
> > > > Again, it's best to think of the stylesheet as
> > > > containing nodes
> > > > (representing instructions) rather than tags.
> > > > Consider
> > > >
> > > > <xsl:element name="x"><xsl:value-of
> > > > select="."/></xsl:element>
> > > >
> > > > There are three tags there, but four nodes, and
> > only
> > > > two instructions. The
> > > > semantics of the language are described in terms
> > of
> > > > the two instructions,
> > > > not the three tags.
> > > >
> > > >  This will allow me to build up a result "tree"
> > > > which is not a mirror image
> > > > of the source, something I need to do if I'm
> > > > rearranging sections of the
> > > > input document. Rather than buffering
> > intermediate
> > > > structures, the T
> > > > processor does multiple passes based on these
> > tags,
> > > > and creates the output
> > > > on-the-fly. Cool.
> > > >
> > > >  ... .
> > > >
> > > > I assume there is nothing stopping me from using
> > > > XSL-T to transform my HTML
> > > > to PDF, but it seems best to output XSL-FO then
> > > > create a PDF using some kind
> > > > of tool. What is that tool?
> > > >
> > > > It's an XSL-FO processor. Examples are FOP,
> > RenderX,
> > > > Antenna House.
> > > >
> > > > Are there FO plug-ins available for my browsers?
> >
> > > >
> > > > No, people are by-and-large using (X)HTML/CSS
> > for
> > > > the browser, XSL-FO/PDF
> > > > for the printed page.
> > > >
> > > > Does this technology work?
> > > >
> > > > Absolutely yes.
> > > >
> > > > Michael Kay
> > > > http://www.saxonica.com/
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > __________________________________________________
> > > Do You Yahoo!?
> > > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam
> > protection around
> > > http://mail.yahoo.com
> > >
> >
> >
> 
> 
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-- 
<M:D/>

M. David Peterson
http://www.xsltblog.com

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