Re: alternating tags in a list?

Hi.

To address your first point, whether you're using ASP, LiveWire, PHP, or
servlets is irrelevant, my main oncern is that XSL should provide the
functionality on the server that these give.

At the moment I'm looking to utilise hybrid ASP/XML documents, formatted
with XSL, but this is not effecient.

As far as my initial concern, if XSL cannot replace ASP and LiveWire, then
on the server-side we'll probably be using proprietry XSL parsers. As
somebody developing with ASP if a standard is introduced that addresses my
needs I'll take whatever MS has to offer.

And I really can't see the point of this type of scripting, but not that
type of scripting, is this another suggestion that XSL should somehow
school good practice in dvelopers? I really do wish people would get off
that one. Let developers worry about their own coding practices please.
Beside, one could argue that the only safe way to introduce scripting into
XSL would be to drop ECMAScript into it, in such a case is a particular
environment expsoses DB object to it ::shrug:: how would you suggest
prohibiting this?

I grant that you might not like your second example.... don't code in that
manner then. If I find it expedient, then that's my choice.

And that is the crux of the situation... choice.

Can we have a shout here from other people invloved in web applications...
E-Commerce, News Feeds, and Information Management etc. What are your
percieved needs from XSL? I ask because I identify immediately with
Didier's comments, and I know from taking a walk around the UK Online Show
that there are alot of NT boxes out there delivering via ASP, or similar
platforms, with alot of developers getting ready to move to XML/XSL.

Cheers
     Guy.





xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx on 12/18/98 09:00:14 PM

To:   xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
cc:    (bcc: Guy Murphy/UK/MAID)
Subject:  Re: alternating tags in a list?





ASP is not the only web-based server development environment out there.
Netscape uses LiveWire (Server-Side JavaScript)...and almost any server
can support Java Servlets.
Write your LiveWire or Servlet or ASP application to access your
relational database. If you wish to leverage XSL you can turn your query
results (tables) into an XML document and then run the XML through an
XSL processor using a specified stylesheet.
I don't see XSL as a threat to ASP or as competition to ASP. XSL is
meant for "styling" an XML document. Its not meant to be a web-based
programming environment. I do feel that scripting should be allowed in
an xsl stylesheet, but only to access the relevant objects. Relevant
objects would include the source tree or result tree. Scripting should
also provide some additional computing power such as mathematical
expressions which gets back to how this thread ("alternating tags in a
list?") started.
I feel that the following should be allowed (the "this" keyword
references the current "source" element that is being processed,
"number" would return the position of the given element):
...
<xsl:template match="employee">
 <TD>
 <xsl:process select="name"/>
 </TD>
<xsl:script>
 if ((number(this) % 2) == 1)
   return "<![CDATA[</TR><TR>]]>";
 else
   return "";
</xsl:script>
</xsl:template>
...
I don't think the next example should be allowed, it really has nothing
to do with XML or XSL other than using XML elements for specifying my
actions, and I think this is what you two are suggesting:
...
<xsl:template match="/*">
<xsl:script>
   var connection =        Database.getConnection("ORACLE",
"beq-local","myuser","mypass");
   var query = "SELECT * FROM exmployees";
   var cursor = connection.cursor(query);
   while (cursor.next()) {
      write(cursor.name);
   }
</xsl:script>
</xsl:template>
...
--Keith
Didier PH Martin wrote:
>
> Hi Guy,
>
> You said:
> XSL is a direct threat to ASP, you can garantee that MS will be all over
> it, and if they can manage another "embrace and extend" flanking
maneuver,
> they will. The W3C are fools if they ignore this. Denying the reality of
it
> will just see them loosing control of main-stream XSL to MS.
>
> Personaly I hope the W3C can avoid making this mistake.
>
> Reply:
> Right on!!
>
> So, if we can use scripts in rules, we'll be able to access data bases
(XSL
> in its current state cannot do that). So, if XSL has the right stuff, we
may
> have it on Appache, Netscape, etc... and be able to do what is more and
more
> needed: accessing relational databases.
>
> For W3 people:
> Have you heard of Internet computing?? Have you heard recently of
> e-commerce??? How can we do that without accessing databases? If at least
we
> have something more standard than ASP that could be easily transported on
> different HTTP servers, XSL for instance (with the right tools embedded
in
> the language).
>
> Then, if people are asking for scripting features it is that XSL in its
> current form do not have any mechanism to access data bases. My question
is
> then: How could we do that with XSL? Without a good answer to this
question,
> I'll say like Guy. Microsoft is a monopoly _because_ some let them be so
and
> it seems that W3 is among these. I know daddy government is there to
resolve
> the issue :-)))
>
> Didier PH Martin
> mailto:martind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.netfolder.com
>
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