[XSL-LIST Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Re: why split? [was RE: XSL intent survey]
[Scott Lawton] > *My* bias is that documents currently have to be created at least > twice: for print & for the Web. Creating & maintaining 2 versions > is a nightmare. That's what I want XML/"XSL" to fix. Thanks, Scott; I've been trying to formulate a response to this thread, and you've given me the point to begin a short one. Print vs. Web is a false dichotomy. BECAUSE current styling capabilities on the Web are inadequate, the two media are seen as separate. XSL is an attempt to bring "print"-quality formatting to the Web; an attempt to destroy the status quo that Web formatting must be either boring or non-portable. Imagine PDF documents, but with font sizes you can read and honoring your choice of how big to make your browser window, re-flowing appropriately. High-quality formatting is an iterative process; consider the case of footnote placement. Sometimes placing a footnote on a page causes the text to which it is attached to flow to the next page. The formatter must have enough information to deal with this. Page number references are similar, and consider conditional chapter openers that vary whether they are on recto or verso pages. The CSS formatting model is good for what it addresses. It could be extended for intelligent formatting objects like these, but I think its fundamental model of kind-of-thing { property: value } would either make that extension awkward, or would have to be removed. STTS, an attempt at transformation in CSS syntax, looks clunky to me. So the output of a transformation from semantic to styled language needs to be intelligent formatting objects, capable of expressing restraints and relationships; why not use XML? The formatters can then leverage all the work done in XML processors to their advantage. So why not split the language into two specifications, XTL and XFM? It's been discussed, but there's a fear, justified I think by recent vendor actions, that the transformation will be implemented and not the formatting model, trapping us all in this single-scroll ghetto forever. -Chris -- <!NOTATION SGML.Geek PUBLIC "-//Anonymous//NOTATION SGML Geek//EN"> <!ENTITY crism PUBLIC "-//O'Reilly//NONSGML Christopher R. Maden//EN" "<URL>http://www.oreilly.com/people/staff/crism/ <TEL>+1.617.499.7487 <USMAIL>90 Sherman Street, Cambridge, MA 02140 USA" NDATA SGML.Geek> XSL-List info and archive: http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list
|
PURCHASE STYLUS STUDIO ONLINE TODAY!Purchasing Stylus Studio from our online shop is Easy, Secure and Value Priced! Download The World's Best XML IDE!Accelerate XML development with our award-winning XML IDE - Download a free trial today! Subscribe in XML format
|