> From: Roger Hui <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > The dictionary currently uses HTML. It works. > Moreover, since HTML is a formal language the > text can in principle be translated automatically > into something else. Please tell me in a few simple > sentences why it should be changed to some > other format.
What I gathered, is it's the argument of content vs presentation. If you look at dictionary pages' source, they are clearly layout (presentation) oriented, eg use of tables, br, spacers, etc. Ric suggests using content-based approach with divs, specialized HTML tags and content-identifying IDs or classes, and then use CSS to achieve desired layout effects. > In your jwiki page > http://www.jsoftware.com/jwiki/RicSherlock/J_Dictionary/CSS_Format > you complained about the exercise numbering, > viz. "2.4" is too hard. Are you serious about > this complaint? It was not a complaint, it was sharing difficulty of reproducing such numbering with CSS automatically. This is addressed in CCS2 as "Nested counters" http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/generate.html#scope Nevertheless, it is possible to reconstruct the semantic intent of structured text based on layout tags, their order is known. A similar problem was addressed in the xml/loose addon as seen in test/dic2.ijs. But such reconstruction is more difficult than having direct indications of content sections. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Sherlock, Ric" > Date: Thursday, July 17, 2008 17:19 > Subject: [Jgeneral] CSS layout for J Dictionary > To: "[email protected]" > > > > > My suggestions do not represent a desire to change or edit the > > content of the Dictionary in any way, but merely a desire to > > help the authors and copyright holders improve the experience of > > J users. My suggestions assume that the current definitive > > source of the Dictionary is HTML as published on the website - > > if that is not the case, then most of the rest of this post is > > probably irrelevant! > > > > > > It seems to me that it would be easier for Jsoftware, to > > maintain the Dictionary and automate its publication in various > > formats from a single definitive source, if the document was > > stored in a way that better separated structure and content from > > formatting. > > In the past separating structure and content from formatting was > > always a problem with HTML because web browsers had less-than- > > consistent handling of standards like CSS. As a result HTML > > tables were often used to provide a consistent experience across > > most browsers as they are currently in the Dictionary. Most > > modern browsers now support enough of these standards that it > > would be feasible to reformat the Dictionary while still > > maintaining a consistent web browser experience. I imagine that > > one of the reasons that this hasn't happened yet, is simply that > > the work to achieve this hasn't been a priority relative to > > other more substantive changes to J (and of course activities > > that actually generate revenue!). Hopefully some of the > > following will help ease the pain of moving to a new format. If > > not, I'll just put it down to experience! > > > > Anyway, I recently had a bit of time on my hands and had a bit > > of a tinker to see if I could re-create a page layout similar to > > that of the current J Dictionary using XHTML and CSS, rather > > than tables. > > > > If you are interested in having a look please check out the wiki page: > > http://www.jsoftware.com/jwiki/RicSherlock/J_Dictionary/CSS_Format/ > > > > I'm no HTML/CSS guru, so I'm sure that there are other, perhaps > > better, ways of doing this but I thought this might at least be > > a good starting point and get things kicked off. > > > > Assuming that an acceptable layout/format was found, can anyone > > recommend a way of automating the conversion more than just > > manually reformatting each page? > > > > I remember a forum post a while back suggesting that the > > xml/loose addon may be useful for converting old html to xml, > > could it be used in this case? Or perhaps HTML Tidy? > > > > I'm sure there will be a need for some manual tinkering to get > > things right, but hopefully at least some (preferably most!) of > > the process could be automated? > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
