Michael Wechner wrote:
> Andreas Hartmann wrote:
>
>> Thorsten Scherler wrote:
>>
>>> El mar, 10-01-2006 a las 12:04 -0500, Gregor J. Rothfuss escribió:
>>>
>>>> http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2006/01/08/No-New-XML-Languages
>>>>
>>>> argues against the many one-off xml languages in lenya.
excellent article, thanks for the link!
>>> Which ones?
>>> Can you point them out?
>>
>>
>> * workflow schema description
>> * users, groups, roles, policies
>>
>> I don't see a problem about custom languages here, since they are
>> used for internal configuration only
>
>
> well, whereas I clearly understand the reasons we invented these custom
> languages (and was/am part of it ;-),
> it still makes to consider migrating to something more standardized, for
> the reason you state below and
> for standardization in general.
agreed, but i have a few additions:
1. use *subsets*.
most languages that are general enough to be widely usable are too
bloated for the specific case.
i hate xhtml for all the reasons stated in the article, but i'm using it
grudgingly since some of my users know it already. then again i'm very
picky about which tags to allow, which leads to lean stylesheets and
consistent look.
same goes for qualified dublin core.
its flexibility is cool, but websites should use a stripped-down
version. this has two effects: the parser is simpler, and users will be
forced to create unambiguous metadata. some categories will not be quite
to-the-point, but having each document in its own category (i've seen
this happen, it's a common disease in academentia) is as bad as none at all.
2. don't bother if it's internal only
if there's no conceivable external use, knock up the simplest xml
dialect that will do the job. no use introducing behemoths like rdf to
configure the behaviour of a module. if i can understand the semantics
by looking at one example file, then great.
3. if you still must roll your own, consider developing an export xslt
alongside.
even if your needs are structurally equivalent or similar to an existing
dialect, then maybe you still want to use your own dialect (examples
being tags in your native language, or subsetting that changes
attributes into elements for the sake of clarity, but take care that it
does stay equivalent and keep transforming it into some standard form
while you are designing it.
--
"Án nýrra verka, án nútimans, hættir fortíðin að vekja áhuga."
"Without new works, without the present the past will cease to be of
interest."
- Ásmundur Sveinsson (1893-1982)
--
Jörn Nettingsmeier, EDV-Administrator
Institut für Politikwissenschaft
Universität Duisburg-Essen, Standort Duisburg
Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED], Telefon: 0203/379-2736
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