SPUG: Way off subject: XML as HTML replacement?

Bill Alford billa at willapabay.org
Wed Jun 14 20:00:44 CDT 2000


The way I like to look at XML is as a generic way to pass around data.
Instead of the DTD being a Document Type Definition, think of it as a
Data Type Definition. Currently I've been seeing XML used primarily as a
way to move data around in a clean and well structured format. The best
example that I've seen is to think of the data behind a store catalog.
You have the prices, pictures, descriptions, names, etc. Now you want a
clean way to move the data around (XML) and then view it (XSL). 

As the XML family gets more formalized we'll start seeing more and more
data showing up on the web as XML instead of HTML. Then again, what will
probably happen is there will be XML behind the scenes, translated by
XSL into the HTML that your browser sees.

I haven't been following XSL and XML standards closely, but the last I
remembered (it is very possible that I'm wrong now) the specs weren't
completed for what IE implemented. Basically it's an early version of
the specs that was implemented in IE. Check the w3c for the latest news.

There was a May 12th posting about XSLT about a recent (E)SPUG meeting.
It gave (what I think is) a good feel for what you can currently do with
it.

Here's the message that I saved:
--------------------------------
Subject:         SPUG: XML/XSLT Presentation Text
   Date:         Fri, 12 May 2000 10:03:53 -0700
   From:         Asim Jalis <ajalis at cobaltgroup.com>
     To:         spug-list at pm.org

The text version of the talk is up. The URL is
http://www.cobaltgroup.com/~ajalis/xmltext

In case people are curious, no, I did not use 
XSLT to generate it. There is a deep irony in 
there somewhere :-)

Asim
----------------------------------

The link above still looks good.

Disclaimer: I don't use XML at all right now. I used to work at a place
where we were thinking of using it to store parts of a commonly used
document, but we weren't able to get anywhere (there were too many
special cases in the various pages for the DTD and we ran out of time).

So, take what you will from this.

Bill

Joe Devlin wrote:
> 
> Hello Michael,
> 
> I had a similar question around the same time as you,
> because I've heard so much hype about it being the
> thing to be doing.
> 
> I went to Borders in Seattle and scanned through all
> the books on XML and found that it appears that XML
> is only read by Internet Explorer 5.
> 
> The graphic development tool Dreamweaver on a simple test
> has the option of reading an XML file but it doesn't
> seem to open up the file the same as HTML.
> 
> If I were to hand code XML for some of my Perl scripts, then
> the graphics designers wouldn't be able to use it with dreamweaver.
> So we have  decided to hold off for a while...
> 
> Could be a case of too much ignorance on my part.  But
> the process seemed a little bleeding edge and we have work to do.
> 
> Joe
> ----------
> From:   Michael Dahlquist[SMTP:elephant at cnw.com]
> Sent:   Friday, June 09, 2000 7:32 AM
> To:     spug-list at pm.org
> Subject:        SPUG: Way off subject: XML as HTML replacement?
> 
> Okay, this is way off subject - ignore it if you see fit.
> 
> Does anyone in the known world use XML as a replacement for HTML?
> 
> If there were a fast server-side XML-to-HTML parser, would anyone be
> excited, since they could now design stuff using XML?
> 
> Is XML useful at all as a web design tool?
> 
> I've been desperately seeking an account of the current acceptance of XML
> as a tool, especially as a web design tool, & I can't find much.
> 
> Thank you. I apologize in advance.
> 
> Michael
> 
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