> From: DRE [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Good grief! I'm torn between the knowledge that xml is probably a better
> technical move and the simplicity of the little textfile(which I have
> taught our salesman to use!!)(And bliminey he's using it!!!!)
My concern is that there are so many directions we could take the
wireframe concept. Within a few months, there are bound to be at least
a dozen different formats for the .wir file, each with its own useful
tweaks and customizations.
So I started thinking about a way we could rework this framework so that
it's more extensible. I like the idea of having a standard navigation,
but the approach that was suggested (adding [navigation] to
the top) scared me. It solves the immediate problem (an easy global
navigation), but doesn't open up the road for solving future problems
(i.e. if there are more than one menu, as I demonstrated). In fact,
it creates roadblocks.
Each new rule/syntax addition has to be backwards compatible with all
of the previous additions. As a result, each new problem has to be
solved under an increasingly limiting set of rules. And if these
innovations are developed independently, merging them would
probably be impossible. That is, if Lee comes up with one great idea
and adds it to his format, and Hal has another idea and adds it
to his, the two new formats may be incompatible. So we're stuck
choosing one or the other, or combining them in yet a third format.
Originally, I was trying to think of a way that we could get around
these problems by coming up with a good core format and simple rules
for extending that format in a clean, elegant way. Then I realized I
was reinventing the wheel. These are exactly the kinds of problems
XML was meant to solve.
With XML, we can extend the format easily without worrying about
compatibility issues. If necessary we can use namespaces to prevent our
individual contributions from colliding with each other. And given the
self-describing nature of XML, it will always be quick and intuitive,
even after we add a bunch of extensions.
> From: Hal Helms [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> But, much as I love XML, I'm not sure what we gain by using it, other than
> being buzzword-compliant!
But, WHY do you love XML so much? Think about the original ten goals[1]
that motivated its development. This is a nail, if I ever saw one. ;-)
Patrick
[1] http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-xml-20001006#sec-origin-goals
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