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RE: Who Is Teaching XML To Technical Writers?

• From: "Len Bullard" <Len.Bullard@ses-i.com>
• To: "Michael Kay" <mike@saxonica.com>
• Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2012 08:21:40 -0500

If IDs are a problem for the technical writers/taggers, one might assume
DTDs are in the mix.  Yet even as one of the world's very top experts,
you didn't. 

Notice the replies that push this to the tool or the vocabulary.  This
is why I use the topic of training.  We are pros and we have our own
biases given how one is applying XML.   If the technical writer or
"tagger" is not trained better, they don't know that given a tool or
application context, what they know may or may not be so and this is
exacerbated if they are trained by someone with particular biases such
as a programmer of I.T. specialist.  One might ask if the difficulty
spoken of with XML is that in simplifying it for the web, that is
removing options for the parser programmer, the XML designers created
many more options for the application engineer that are bewildering for
those using it for the original application:  documents.

Messaging and document production are not the same application; they are
actively competitive in ways that aren't productive.  In this and other
senses, the web is not good for business where people in that business
aren't adequately trained.  Iconoclastic but true enough that we should
consider how or if XML is still a good fit for the applications for
which it was specified or if lack of specificity is THE problem.

<!ENTITY 60-D19189 SYSTEM "graphics/mygraphic.eps" NDATA EPS>

len

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Kay [mailto:mike@saxonica.com] 
Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2012 3:36 AM
To: Len Bullard
Cc: xml-dev@lists.xml.org
Subject: Re:  Who Is Teaching XML To Technical Writers?


On 10/08/2012 20:42, Len Bullard wrote:
> Failure to obey the politeness/conformance/ContractBitesYouInTheAss of
> the DTD, Mike.   We still have those.
Well if there's a DTD that says both these id's are ID's then you are 
right. But you didn't tell us that.

Michael Kay
Saxonica

• Follow-Ups:
  • Re: Who Is Teaching XML To Technical Writers?
    • From: Michael Kay <mike@saxonica.com>

• References:
  • Using the concepts of Category Theory to create better XML datamodels
    • From: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@mitre.org>
  • Re: Using the concepts of Category Theory to create betterXML data models
    • From: David Sheets <kosmo.zb@gmail.com>
  • RE: Using the concepts of Category Theory to createbetter XML data models
    • From: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@mitre.org>
  • OT: When Spell Checkers Strike
    • From: "Len Bullard" <Len.Bullard@ses-i.com>
  • Who Is Teaching XML To Technical Writers?
    • From: "Len Bullard" <Len.Bullard@ses-i.com>
  • Re: Who Is Teaching XML To Technical Writers?
    • From: Michael Kay <mike@saxonica.com>
  • RE: Who Is Teaching XML To Technical Writers?
    • From: "Len Bullard" <Len.Bullard@ses-i.com>
  • Re: Who Is Teaching XML To Technical Writers?
    • From: Michael Kay <mike@saxonica.com>