Hi,
XUL Basic sounds really cool. Can't WHAT just forget about the html thing? I don't require to run my web apps in IE 5, Opera 5 or Netscape 4 and who wants html in 2 years from now? If Mozilla/Opera//Safari/FlashMX would all support such XUL Basic that would open an entirely new world, somehow it should probably be possible to get that also to run in IE.
karl
Gerald Bauer wrote:
Hello,
Matthew Raymond has kicked off a discussion at the new WHAT WG mailinglist titled "Suggestion for a Specification: XUL Basic".
Matthew writes:
I propose that the WHAT WG work on a specification for a subset of Mozilla XUL that for the purposes of this message I will call XUL Basic. XUL Basic will actually be the combination of two smaller XUL subsets which I will refer to as "Keymaster" and "Gatekeeper".
=== "KEYMASTER" ===
The first subset, "Keymaster", is designed for use in tandem with XHTML. The idea is to create a subset that can be used in a mixed XUL+XHTML environment to enhance existing XHTML web applications with controls that don't exist in XHTML 1.0 itself.
Here is the list of elements:
box hbox menu menubar menuitem menupopup menuseparator tab tabbox tabpanel tabpanels tabs vbox
"Keymaster" is intended for inclusion in browsers and other programs that already support XHTML or another language with similar features. This subset is compatible with the existing XUL motors Luxor XUL Toolkit and Zulu:
http://luxor-xul.sourceforge.net/
http://zulu.netspedition.com/zulu/main/overview.shtml
=== "GATEKEEPER" ===
The second subset, "Gatekeeper", is designed to provide basic support for forms that are similar in features to those you can currently create using HTML. This subset allows the creation of simple XUL-based web applications contained in their own dialogs or windows.
Here is the list of XUL elements:
button checkbox column columns description dialog hbox image label menuitem menulist menupopup radio radiogroup row rows separator spacer textbox vbox window
Nearly the entire "Gatekeeper" XUL subset is supported by Macromedia's XML2UI (which I believe is part of Flash MX 2004. See the following page for details:
http://garland.duramedia.net/pipermail/extendflash_flashguru.co.uk/20040419/000734.html
XML2UI doesn't support description, image or window. We could theoretically make this part of the specification optional, but I'm not convinced that it's necessary. The element menupopup is supported in the form "menupop". I don't see the point in changing the name of the tag to save two characters, personally. Macromedia should be reasonably capable of updating Flash MX 2004 to meet this potential specification.
=== XUL BASIC ===
XUL Basic is the combining of the above two specifications. It allows menus, tabs, dialogs and every type of control currently supported by HTML, and it does it all with 32 tags. The two subset approach allows developers to pick the subset that would be most advantageous to implement, then go back and add the other subset when they have the resources.
XUL Basic is intended to be similar to XHTML Basic. It would serve as a core standard for XUL support that would be relatively easy to approve compared to a full specification of Mozilla XUL. Once approved, other modules could be added to form a more complete specification of XUL.
=== In Closing... ===
I'm not entirely sure this is in the scope of the
WHAT WG's charter. Let me know if this is not the
case. I felt this idea was important enough to present
on this mailing list, so I went ahead and posted. If
there is a more appropriate venue for this message,
please let me know. Thoughts, comments and
constructive criticism are welcome.
Source:
http://listserver.dreamhost.com/pipermail/whatwg-whatwg.org/2004-June/000111.html
What's your take on it? Any comments? Any thoughts?
- Gerald
-------------------
Gerald Bauer
Open XUL Alliance - A Rich Internet For Everyone |
http://xul.sourceforge.net
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