[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] RE: XML is text-only ... why?
Some parts of that are a little misleading possibly because the XML goals were set by a self-selected group documenting its own perspectives. 1. What you are describing was termed 'tag sprinkling'. That was a point of comp-text-sgml design threads: document design vs tagging documents. Both practices were evident depending on the starting point and the politics of a project. HTML's design (a GenCode) came late in the game although problems in that design dominated XML and were grandfathered into it. Possibly the lack of ubiquitous design tools for document design based on markup led to a perception that 'tag sprinkling' was the right way or the only way. Any of us who were working on both SGML and relational databases or even object-oriented programming saw that this was a flawed approach even if sometimes the only viable one. 2. I can't think of any case where anyone seriously suggested one could 'rip out the markup and get the original'. The first generation of gencoders were typesetters and they plainly knew that was impossible. The next generation were technical writers for the most part who had been submitting their manuscripts to data entry clerks and they plainly knew that was impossible. This myth spawned when the comp-sci types began to explore markup. They did not tend to be document-savvy people and those that were did not know a lot about markup. Out of all of these was a very small cross-section of experts who plainly knew that was impossible. To get a flavor, it helps to understand that in the battle between what deRose and Durand called the 'holy scrollers' and the 'card sharks', the holy scrollers were victorious in Web 1.0. In Web 2.0, that victory is in doubt. Thus comments that the OOXML vs ODF bitter butter battle is a war over dodo technology. The sharks are back and are winning this time. 2. The idea of markup for structured data was around when ISO 8879 was a draft. Papers published on such were already being published before the web was born. The infrastructure wasn't up to it and getting it accepted in comp-sci circles was a difficult undertaking. The more frequent complaint and I quote fairly precisely, "any language that allows mixed content like that is a monstrosity and should never be used with a database". The emergence of XML as a dominant data container came as a result of cheap processing cycles and memory, not because of sudden realizations of its utility for non-page-based applications. The uptake of that idea on the web was quick and that gives the appearance of invention where it is only broader acceptance. len From: richard@i... [mailto:richard@i...] Digression: This historical perspective on XML is often forgotten. Many aspects of XML are ones inherited from the idea of a markup language as taking an existing text document and wrapping markup around it. There was a widespread assumption that you could rip out the markup and get "the original". This explains why, for example, HTML titles are content while hypertext references are attributes: the titles are part of the text, but the URLs aren't. It also explains the default template rules in XSLT. The use of SGML and XML for arbitrary structured data is a later idea. This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. [Date Prev] | [Thread Prev] | [Thread Next] | [Date Next] -- [Date Index] | [Thread Index] |
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