[XSL-LIST Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Re: Practicality of Separating Data from Presentation
James, Thanks for the knowledgable response. --------------------------------------------------------------- - XSLT is good for some things, some rather easy things become very hard to do in XSLT... XSLT is a very good partner to existing languages. In addition, u can use XSLT as a preprocessor, auto generating ASP for example. This is where XSLT is a star in auto generating code for you. --------------------------------------------------------------- My next question, James, would be, what is the best way (in your opinion) for auto-generating ASP? Do you have any examples of ASP code being generated through an XSLT file? Does it involve 'overloading' the XSLT file with ASP code - i.e. writing some ASP code within the XSLT file? I have seen some code like the following: <xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes"><</xsl:text>%= Now %<xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes">></xsl:text> as a way to create ASP code. What would be some pro's and con's to this approach - assuming there are both? TG ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Fuller" <james.fuller@xxxxxxxxxx> Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2002 20:07:49 +0100 To: <xsl-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: Re: Practicality of Separating Data from Presentation > Hello Tim, > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <intelikon@xxxxxxxxx> > > After reading Jeni Tennison's book 'XSLT & XPath On the Edge' I was most > interested in Part III of the book. I understood the concepts presented > (reusing XML snippets, page templates, multiple stylesheets, etc.) but what > I am vexed about is the 'placement' of ASP code - ASP conditionals , etc. I > came across an article on XML.com : > http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/03/27/templatexslt.html - which in the third > paragraph, the author says XSLT "fails miserably at separating these two > layers (data & presentation)." My question is, does the use of ASP bring > conflict to the framework of using XML & XSLT to separate data from > presentation? And specifically do you see or practice the placement of ASP > in the backend (in XML) or in the middle (in XSL/XSLT) or in the front > (before the presentation)? > > you will find that there are people out there that *gasp* hate XSLT for many > reasons; > > some qualifying statements that might help you in your quest for truth > > - XQuery people think its a bit wimpy in real data situations, true but its > simplicity means it gets adopted, even people who use XML have some problems > with XSLT. The fact remains that XSLT solves most of XQueries use cases. > > - SQL people say 'why' use xml and thusly xslt ; especially since the > performance aspects outstrip anything at the moment, but my only retort to > them is 'why are there not any SQL editors of worth out there'; analogy is > powerful in learning and designers, developers and regular people generally > 'get' html.... even if it presents mixed processing models and gray muddy > water in serious data ( and data typing ) situations. The real issue here is > that people have spent lots of time, money and energy in to learning RDBMS > and SQL. What I dont get is that a serious architecture does not preclude > the use of RDBMS, read up on some of Oracle's, IBM, M$ approach, all of whom > have doped up their products with XML. > > - XSLT is actually much better at integrating in a plethora of many > languages( PERL, PHP, ColdFusion, Python, C, C++, Java etc), then the other > way around, depends on if you put XML ( meta data and problem specific > vocabularies ) and SOA at the center of your architecture instead of a > language specific golden hammer approach to developing applications. > > - it is true, if u don't design and plan your use of any language, then it > could fail miserably at seperating data and presentation, but really this > mantra is a rather old hack; yes there are powerful savings in time when > seperating data and presentation, which is powerful in any computing context > ( hey the mac doesnt even have a command line....or anything under their > GUI, their operating system IS the GUI ! )...but there are much more > compelling arguments to using xml and thusly xslt in your architecture. > > - XSLT is good for some things, some rather easy things become very hard to > do in XSLT... XSLT is a very good partner to existing languages. In > addition, u can use XSLT as a preprocessor, auto generating ASP for example. > This is where XSLT is a star in auto generating code for you. > > XSLT is simple and many existing editors can manipulate text based xml > XSLT is supported in just about every major language > XSLT is a good tactical data manipulation and querying language, albeit its > more XPATH thats useful then XSLT when used as a data querying mechanism > XSLT promotes templating and strong push and pull models of processing > information > XSLT in a world of xml vocabularies is needed as a tactical language to > easily transform back and forth from ( ex. WSDL to SOAP call ) > XSLT brings in some well known computing algorithims to the majority of > programmers ( think LISP ) > XSLT built into the browser and common client situations means we dont need > a full blown database for manipulating data, just an xml file and XSLT > processor > > > I could keep on going, but maybe some other people who have more exp mixing > the use of ASP and XSLT could pipe up, I would peruse www.topxml.com and > possibly www.bayes.co.uk/xml to get some ideas of how people are doing it. > > good luck, jim fuller > > > > XSL-List info and archive: http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list > > -- __________________________________________________________ Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup Save up to $160 by signing up for NetZero Platinum Internet service. http://www.netzero.net/?refcd=N2P0602NEP8 XSL-List info and archive: http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list
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