xml-dev - Re: Embedding Content as Element Content or As An Attribute Value

[Marcus Carr <mrc@allette.com.au>]

Ray Waldin wrote:

> Of all the answers I've received, the ones referring me to SGML publications were the
> most intimidating.  If the intention is to
> produce a "simple dialect of SGML" for its "ease of implementation", having to
> retrace the historical minutiae of SGML in order to create an XML DTD seems to defeat
> that purpose.

The question was related to a philosophical issue that has been hashed out by SGML
people for ten years now, and that applies directly to XML as well. You need not know
all of the details - some books, such as Chet Ensign's 'SGML: The Billion Dollar
Secret' discusses SGML from a high-level perspective. Nobody's going to make you
memorise the white-space rules around included elements.... :-)

> It seems to me that referring XML newbies (like me) to SGML publications is like
> asking us to eat soup with a *BULLDOZER*.  :)

Don't be scared off - not everything to do with SGML is rocket science. Much of it is
just XML by another name.

> Starve or drown.  What we need is an XML spoon to properly devour this feast.
> Anyhow, thanks for letting me slurp!  :)

Sorry Goldilocks, such a beast takes time to make. Until then, you'll either have to
make do with Baby Bear's or Papa Bear's spoon. I suggest Papa Bear's, but only fill it
up half way.


--
Regards

Marcus Carr                  email:  mrc@allette.com.au
_______________________________________________________________
Allette Systems (Australia)  email:  info@allette.com.au
Level 10, 91 York Street     www:    http://www.allette.com.au
Sydney 2000 NSW Australia    phone:  +61 2 9262 4777
                             fax:    +61 2 9262 4774
_______________________________________________________________


xml-dev: A list for W3C XML Developers. To post, mailto:xml-dev@ic.ac.uk
Archived as: http://www.lists.ic.ac.uk/hypermail/xml-dev/
To (un)subscribe, mailto:majordomo@ic.ac.uk the following message;
(un)subscribe xml-dev
To subscribe to the digests, mailto:majordomo@ic.ac.uk the following message;
subscribe xml-dev-digest
List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (mailto:rzepa@ic.ac.uk)