poster wrote:
> I am still thinking this through, so bear with me. I understand that
> XXE, at its core, should provide a primitive set of editing operations.
> Document-specific ones can be defined by the document-type author.
>
> My main question is: can the basic editing operations set of XXE be
> improved?
>
> For example, document types typically define collections of things. What
> would be appropriate primitive operations on these collections? One that
> I see quite often is "move this item (up or down) within this collection".
>
> As I understand it, I can do this today by "cut" and "paste" or "paste
> after". However, this has a very different user feel than a "move",
> where the element never disappears from the document. Imagine selecting
> an element, and then visually stepping it up or down in its containing
> collection.
>
> Would such an operation be appropriate for XXE to support?
I've written commands that do that (see below). To move elements or sets
of contiguous elements just select them, and press Ctrl-Alt-UP/DOWN as
many times as required.
<!--
=======================================================================
Move the explicitly selected element(s) before the preceding element
======================================================================== -->
<command name="moveBefore">
<macro>
<sequence>
<!-- test for a preceding element, and record its location -->
<match context="$selected" pattern="*[position() > 1]" />
<set variable="newAnchor" context="$selected"
expression="./preceding-sibling::*[1]" />
<!-- copy the selected element(s) and record its location -->
<command name="copy" parameter="[selectedNodes]" />
<set variable="anchor" expression="$selectedNodes" />
<!-- select now the preceding element -->
<set variable="selected" expression="$newAnchor" />
<choice>
<sequence> <!-- try to complete the command -->
<!-- paste (duplicate) the selection copy before the
preceding element -->
<command name="paste" parameter="before" />
<!-- select the whole set of pasted elements and record its
location -->
<set variable="selected2" expression="$newAnchor" />
<command name="selectNode"
parameter="extendToPreviousSiblingOrNode" />
<set variable="newAnchor" expression="$selectedNodes" />
<!-- delete the original selected node(s) -->
<set variable="selectedNodes" expression="$anchor" />
<command name="delete" />
<!-- reselect the moved element(s) -->
<set variable="selectedNodes" expression="$newAnchor" />
</sequence>
<sequence> <!-- else, restore the original selection -->
<set variable="selectedNodes" expression="$anchor" />
</sequence>
</choice>
</sequence>
</macro>
</command>
<binding>
<keyPressed code="UP" modifiers="alt ctrl" />
<command name="moveBefore" />
</binding>
<!--
=======================================================================
Move the explicitly selected element(s) after the following element
======================================================================== -->
<command name="moveAfter">
<macro>
<sequence>
<!-- test for a following element, and record its location -->
<match context="$selected2" pattern="*[position() <
last()]" />
<set variable="newAnchor" context="$selected2"
expression="./following-sibling::*[1]" />
<!-- copy the selected element(s) and record its location -->
<command name="copy" parameter="[selectedNodes]" />
<set variable="anchor" expression="$selectedNodes" />
<choice>
<sequence> <!-- there is an element after the following
element -->
<match context="$newAnchor" pattern="*[position() <
last()]" />
<!-- record the location past the following element -->
<set variable="newAnchor2" context="$newAnchor"
expression="./following-sibling::*[1]" />
<!-- select now the following element -->
<set variable="selected" expression="$newAnchor" />
<choice>
<sequence> <!-- try to complete the command -->
<command name="paste" parameter="after" />
<!-- select the whole set of pasted elements and record
its location -->
<set variable="selected2" expression="$newAnchor2" />
<command name="selectNode"
parameter="extendToPreviousSiblingOrNode" />
<set variable="newAnchor" expression="$selectedNodes" />
<!-- delete the original selected node(s) -->
<set variable="selectedNodes" expression="$anchor" />
<command name="delete" />
<!-- reselect the moved element(s) -->
<set variable="selectedNodes" expression="$newAnchor" />
</sequence>
<sequence> <!-- else, restore the original selection -->
<set variable="selectedNodes" expression="$anchor" />
</sequence>
</choice>
</sequence>
<sequence> <!-- there are no elements after the following
element -->
<!-- select now the following element -->
<set variable="selected" expression="$newAnchor" />
<choice>
<sequence> <!-- try to complete the command -->
<command name="paste" parameter="after" />
<!-- select the whole set of pasted elements and record
its location -->
<set variable="selected2" context="$newAnchor"
expression="./following-sibling::*[last()]" />
<set variable="newAnchor" expression="$selectedNodes" />
<!-- delete the original selected node(s) -->
<set variable="selectedNodes" expression="$anchor" />
<command name="delete" />
<!-- reselect the moved element(s) -->
<set variable="selectedNodes" expression="$newAnchor" />
</sequence>
<sequence> <!-- else, restore the original selection -->
<set variable="selectedNodes" expression="$anchor" />
</sequence>
</choice>
</sequence>
</choice>
</sequence>
</macro>
</command>
<binding>
<keyPressed code="DOWN" modifiers="alt ctrl" />
<command name="moveAfter" />
</binding>
This code in unnecessarily complex for moving set of nodes, because
after pasting a set of nodes only the first one gets selected. My
(tricky) code forces selection of the whole set of just pasted nodes.
This way the command can be repeated to move further.
[snipped]
Hope this helps,
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manuel Collado | Facultad de Informatica UPM
Universidad Politecnica de Madrid | Campus de Montegancedo
Dep. LSIIS | Boadilla del Monte
Tel.+34-91-336.74.57 Fax.+34-91-336.74.12 | 28660 MADRID - SPAIN
------------------------------------------------------------------------
