Re: How do I capture the text "around" a node?

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Subject: Re: How do I capture the text "around" a node?
From: Wendell Piez <wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 13:11:38 -0400

Peter,

At 07:51 PM 9/24/2002, you wrote:

At the risk of being booed and jeered out of the list, I feel I should
state my reasons for not buying a book on the subject just yet.

I'm doing XML currently as a postgrad, there has been no text listed
for the subject as the lecturer doesn't feel there is a book that
covers the subject matter of XML (in it's broadest sence ) well
enough.  A friend
of mine has XML in a nutshell which has been helpful to a point, but
as it is a nutshell book, it obviously doesn't have indepth examples.
Even the Formatting Objects stuff left us a bit unsure.

As you've already surmised, this list is unparelleled as a resource on XSL. Not only do we have implementors and hard-core developers and users of XSLT, but also experts in all kinds of XML-related issues that have some bearing on XSL (the nitty-gritty of character encoding; browser tips and tricks; XML applications such as web services, DocBook, TEI, SVG; name-your-programming-language etc. etc.), as well as people who make their living doing XML and XSL design and consulting. And trainers and yes, the authors of the books. In other words, the bench is very deep. Yet it's not just an insider's list: we get lots of traffic from newbies tackling their very first problem in XSLT, sometimes in XML period.

In part because the list has covered the ground so thoroughly already -- old-timers have read, and *written*, it all before (the list goes back over four years now) -- this combination makes us a bit wary (or weary) of answering yet another question about basics. Especially now that there are books, not all of which are unmitigated disasters. (An awesome book could be put together just from the list archives, which are well worth the visit. In some respects DaveP's XSL FAQ represents that effort.) Accordingly, we are sometimes guilty of being a little short with open-ended requests for help on very basic questions.

Nonetheless, we do know basic questions are -- basic. Very important. Moreover, one reason some of us like XSLT is because of its feature set as a processing language for XML, a feature set that is rather unusual, and therefore sometimes a bit hard for the newcomer to grasp. But powerful! especially at the kinds of things XSL was designed to do. For example -- capturing the text "around" a node. If XSLT is used in the way it's designed to be used, this is trivial.

So -- if you want a tip on *the* XSLT book, just ask (the question is in scope). Better, check out the list archives, summarize your findings, and post them to us asking whether the state of the book market has advanced since the last time we covered the question. (It has. And some of us have opinions that may be almost as well informed as your instructor's. ;-)

Or: find everything you need to know about XSLT in the archives themselves. There are some real gems in there.

Cheers,
Wendell


======================================================================
Wendell Piez                            mailto:wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mulberry Technologies, Inc.                http://www.mulberrytech.com
17 West Jefferson Street                    Direct Phone: 301/315-9635
Suite 207                                          Phone: 301/315-9631
Rockville, MD  20850                                 Fax: 301/315-8285
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Mulberry Technologies: A Consultancy Specializing in SGML and XML
======================================================================

XSL-List info and archive: http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list

Current Thread

Re: How do I capture the text "around" a node?, (continued)
- Passin,Thomas B. (Tom) - Tue, 24 Sep 2002 10:45:35 -0400 (EDT)
  - Jeni Tennison - Tue, 24 Sep 2002 11:06:05 -0400 (EDT)
- Passin,Thomas B. (Tom) - Tue, 24 Sep 2002 11:03:54 -0400 (EDT)

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