Carlos:
"And sadly there is a lot of people that also consider it as a programmin=
g language"

I very much agree, from the opposite point of view , that is via XML as a=
 format.

Originally processor instructions were allowed in XML, but more or less d=
iscouraged.

As a web substitute for adhoc HTML scripts were introduced haphazardly. I=
n my opinion script has no place in a XML format, unless of course it is =
used to render scripts into an editable and passive form.

Where REBOL may have an important and simplifying contribution is in taki=
ng  scripts out of XML altogether.

It depends very much on how a REBOL plugin might work in alien browsers. =
Whether REBOL might become a rendering engine, or stylesheet processor of=
 some kind.

I don't know if such a thing is even possible (well everything is possibl=
e, but money and time might be excessive).

Script actions belong not in XML but in a stylesheet that describes how t=
he XML will be displayed and used.

It is that simple.

The stylesheet is a script, XML is a structural map. It should be used as=
 a map, and the script should identify where things might happen.

Consider simple hypertext jumps. At the moment a URL is placed within the=
 XML as an button, which is handy, but in terms of structure does a refer=
ence really need to be implanted, is it good practice?

I don't think so, not when we have an established system of footnoting wh=
ich places the references typographically separate from the reference poi=
nt.

It makes little difference to the web, but try printing it out while pres=
erving the references =96 they disappear!

Yet they could all be grouped traditionally within their own structure (h=
idden in web use, but made visible when printing (perhaps at the bottom o=
f the page, end of the section or end of the document =96 but not disappe=
aring as is the case now).

Put the code that attaches a reference to a web address in a stylesheet a=
nd the link activation does exactly what a present href does, but the ref=
erence itself is elsewhere =96 structurally separate.

Same with ActiveX type controls =96 they don't have to be, and make littl=
e sense in being in a printed version, inserted directly into the XML its=
elf they are a mess to be placed in the rendered XML through a script mak=
es more sense, at least to me.

REBOL might provide the means of keeping data format clean and separate f=
rom rendering and for many web pages no XML is really required (though I =
believe any text, beyond a sentence, or label, should be properly marked-=
up for typographical use at least =96 that does not need a full XML docum=
ent however)

Cleaning-up XML as a format may seem a modest enough objective, but separ=
ating data from process is an important thing, data permanency may not be=
 important to 9/10ths of the web, but it is damn important for preserving=
 literature in digital form =96 processing instructions of any kind corru=
pt this potential.=20

Clean REBOL XML may be an approach that may meet with some niche interest=
, but I think the implications are greater than that.

Plus with dialecting being such a strong part of REBOL, integrating minim=
al structural  markup is not such a big issue (it does not corrupt more e=
fficient scripting methods in normal REBOL).

Just some thoughts sorry for the long post.

Greg Schofield
Perth Australia



--- Message Received ---
From: Carlos Lorenz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:12:44 -0300
Subject: [REBOL] Re: XML comments >> implications for R3

For me, the bad side is when people see xml as something else than a
> "format", a way to interchange.  unfortunately, xml has become a golden=

> hammer.  its an end-all buzz word for many of those un-skilled and
> non-programmer managers, who buy stuff from clueless salesmen who know
> only
> that they have to push this "thing" their boss tells them to.



I agree with you. XML is in most CV/Resumes I have seen lately. It=B4s qu=
ite a
*MUST*. And sadly there is a lot of people that also consider it as a
programming language :(


--=20
Carlos Lorenz
www.revistaeletronica.com.br
Unidade Lorenz Ltda
(11) 4034 1971

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