[XSL-LIST Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message]

Re: Re: First public working draft of XSLT 2.1

Subject: Re: Re: First public working draft of XSLT 2.1
From: Dimitre Novatchev <dnovatchev@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 15 May 2010 13:16:35 -0700
Re:  Re: First public working draft of XSLT 2.1
> it seems reasonable to offer users a portable specification for the
> facility.

In case issue 13 is decided in favor of this feature being optional,
then exactly the opposite effect of portability will be achieved.

I see the convenience of this feature, but if included it must not be
optional.


Cheers,
Dimitre

On Sat, May 15, 2010 at 12:51 PM, Michael Kay <mike@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> I think, that the new xsl:evaluate instruction is the most
>> harmful addition, as it either rules out the idea of
>> compilation of xslt in native/IL/other language code, or
>> demands for interpreter or compiler to be available at
>> stylesheet execution time.
>>
>> This makes execution environment much more heavier than necessary.
>
> You may have noticed we have an open issue (issue 13) saying that we have
> not yet decided whether this will be a mandatory or optional feature of the
> language. The main argument for making it optional is to allow stylesheet
> execution in run-time environments where having an XPath compiler would be
> excessive overhead.
>>
>> But probably the worst effect will be from developers who
>> will widely practice the "easiest" way to achieve desired
>> effect with dynamic xpath.
>
> There are many use cases for dynamic evaluation; it is one of the most
> widely-used and widely-implemented extensions in existing XSLT processors,
> and it seems reasonable to offer users a portable specification for the
> facility. Of course there is a risk that some users will misuse the
feature,
> but I don't think that's a very good argument for not making it available.
>>
>> On the other hand indirect function calls introduced in xpath
>> 2.1 give enough power to model dynamic flexibility, if required.
>> --
>
> Indeed, and hopefully that will reduce the temptation to use dynamic
> evaluation for solving problems in cases where higher-order functions are a
> more appropriate solution. But there are many applications where reading
> XPath expressions from data files or constructing then dynamically from
> user-supplied input is a requirement, and currently such applications
cannot
> be written in a portable way.
>
> For an example of such an application, consider the errata publication
> system used for the XSLT and related specifications. The XML master file
for
> an erratum identifies the text to be changed or deleted by means of an
XPath
> expression embedded in the XML document, and the stylesheet uses this to
> find the text and display it. This is a perfectly reasonable design, and
> it's frankly embarrassing that the build system for the XSLT specification
> should have to rely on vendor extensions to the language.
>
> Regards,
>
> Michael Kay
> http://www.saxonica.com/
> http://twitter.com/michaelhkay
>
>



--
Cheers,
Dimitre Novatchev
---------------------------------------
Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence.
---------------------------------------
To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk
-------------------------------------
Never fight an inanimate object
-------------------------------------
You've achieved success in your field when you don't know whether what
you're doing is work or play
-------------------------------------
I enjoy the massacre of ads. This sentence will slaughter ads without
a messy bloodbath.

Current Thread

PURCHASE STYLUS STUDIO ONLINE TODAY!

Purchasing Stylus Studio from our online shop is Easy, Secure and Value Priced!

Buy Stylus Studio Now

Download The World's Best XML IDE!

Accelerate XML development with our award-winning XML IDE - Download a free trial today!

Don't miss another message! Subscribe to this list today.
Email
First Name
Last Name
Company
Subscribe in XML format
RSS 2.0
Atom 0.3
Site Map | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Trademarks
Free Stylus Studio XML Training:
W3C Member
Stylus Studio® and DataDirect XQuery ™are products from DataDirect Technologies, is a registered trademark of Progress Software Corporation, in the U.S. and other countries. © 2004-2013 All Rights Reserved.