Re: Checking element to see if it has children...

> Of course the most obvious to me is that trees grow "up"
> from the root, 

Computer scientists. they spend too long indoors and never quite got the
hang of which way up a tree grows.

> "It's *like* a tree rather than it *is* a tree--if we're
> using analogies.)

It's no longer really an analogy, a "tree" has a techical definition:
it _is_ a rooted acyclic connected graph,
ie a network with one distinguished node, from which you can reach every
other node in the network, and there are no loops. The thing that
allegedly grows outside is just some folk memory of a more rural time:-)

> I'm thinking about attributes because they're not extensible. 
ah, yes you have to extend the concept to "labeled trees" in which the
nodes have structure to capture attributes. (Or alternatively, and
closer to the Xpath model, you have to have different kinds of branches in
your tree, as well as the usual branches expressing child relationship,
you need other kinds, for attributes and namespaces.)

> I appreciate it when people take the time to
> help me but I don't appreciate it when people refer me to the FAQ.

Many people ask on the list because they've been sent here (eg from
xml-dev:-) so they may not even know there is a faq. I just pointed out
its existence as a possibly useful piece of extra information over the
specific answer I gave.

> At present, the concepts
> are presented incorrectly for incidental learning as there aren't any
> conceptual relationships (analogies) being taught

the FAQ is what it says it isL a list of fewquently asked questions, if
you want a more organised themed tutorial site there are plenty of those
as well (eg zvon's) or books such as Jeni's beginning xslt.

David



-- 
http://www.dcarlisle.demon.co.uk/matthew

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