Re: Why XT doesn't use the DOM

>Now that XSL is going to be a major force I think that DOM should be
expanded to
>allow XSL processor to be built on top of it.
>
>Do the DOM folks agree ?

Current DOM design is good enough for 80% of the applications.  XSL a
borderline case where pure DOM implementation is possible but not ideal.

1. Namespace support

This is already being considered for Level 2.  Also, namespace support can
be built on top of DOM.

2. Editability

As James pointed out, editability has some cost associated with it but it is
a plus if scripting language is used with XSL.

3. Source information (line and URL)

This is probably worth considering.  Something like:

interface Document2 {
    attribute url;
}

interface Node2 {
    Location getLocation(Node node);
        // returns node's physical location information using Node
    ...
}

interface Location : Node {
        // node value could be XML attribute list syntax like this:
        // i.e. "href='foobar.xml' line='123' col='22' pos='23123'"
        // getAttributes could return NamedNodeMap to attributes
    DOMString nodeURL;
    long lineNumber;
    long lineOffset;
    long streamOffset;
}

4. Whitespace stripping and entity expansion

These can be addressed with convenience functions on top of DOM.

5. I don't like the design of the DOM

For DOM indigestion, I take two TUMS.

Merry X-mas.

Don Park
Docuverse



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