xml-dev - Re: XML Editors - Word 2000??

[Paul Prescod <paul@prescod.net>]

Marcus Carr wrote:
> 
> I believe that tools such as FrameMaker+SGML or WordPerfect 8.0 (I 
> think it is) can be useful in some circumstances to mask complication 
> from people who needn't know about it. Using the cues that paper 
> provides is not a bad thing, provided what's happening in the 
> background is valid. Would you hold the same argument about databases? 
> (Only sissies use forms...) 

I think that this is an important point. The WYSIWYG stands as a metaphor
and a series of visual clues about what is happening in the background.
On-screen buttons and windows often look 3-dimensional because it helps
people think about them in terms that they understand. XML editors should
do the same thing.

On the other hand, way too many customers fall into the WYSIWYG myth and
don't recognize that there are limits. There comes a point where slavish
adherence to the metaphor gets in the way of easy editing. Yes, smart
application designers recognize the need for a middle ground.

-- 
 Paul Prescod  - ISOGEN Consulting Engineer speaking for only himself
 http://itrc.uwaterloo.ca/~papresco

Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are men 
who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without 
thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the roar of its many 
waters. - Fredrick Douglass
 http://www.informamerica.com/Articles/Quotes.htm

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