Re: XSLT 1.1 comments (in defence of xsl:script)

> I'm not sure the problem lies with those who are implementing XSLT 1.1
> processors. The problem exists for those of us who are using XSLT to produce
> transformation documents. If I write a document that I can say is 100% XSLT
> compliant, then I demand that when I use that document in a processor that
> is 100% compliant the resulting output is exactly as I have specified. With
> xsl:script, this is not possible. Because implementors are not guaranteed to
> implement the xsl:script tag in a consistent way (if at all), I have no
> guaranted that my XSLT document is going to generate the correct
> transformations. 

I have no particular desire to fill my stylesheets with a scripting
language (although perhaps emacs lisp might make a nice extension
language, or TeX, ....) However I think I disagree completely with the
above. 

If you just use xsl:script then the situation is exactly the same as
in XSL 1.0. Your stylesheet will be portable.

If, in XSLT 1.0 or 1.1 you use an extension function from a non XSL
namespace then your stylesheet will not be portable.

The only difference is that in XSLT 1.0 you won't in general have any
idea what the extension function is supposed to do (if it isn't "your"
namespace") but in XSLT 1.1 you may be able to look at an xsl:script
element which will specify (in a portable way) the binding of that
extension function to  some external code library or some inlined script.

But note it is the use of an extension function that makes the document
non portable. xsl:script does not _do_ anything. it just specifies the
binding of extension functions to code, so helps specify what it is
extension functions are doing. extension functions are the enemy of
portability, not xsl:script. And they are already in XSLT 1.0.

David

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