xml-dev - RE: Re: Why I Hate Palmtops (was: Re: SGML, XML and SML)

[Mark Birbeck <Mark.Birbeck@iedigital.net>]

Michael Champion wrote:
> The way I see it, if the underlying source for web pages is 
> coded in some
> XML-like markup language, then stylesheets driving the WML output can
> present only those elements that convey the essence of the page ... no
> sidebars, supporting quotations, banner ads, etc.  You won't 
> see the HTML
> page broken up into cellphone-sized screens (which I agree is 
> pointless).

I sort of agree. I think that this is where XSL-FO will come in. XML
will first be transformed to device-independent layout, and then that
will be transformed to HTML/XHTML for the Web, WML for the mobile phone
(for now), PostScript for print, Director for CD-ROM publications, FDML
(Fridge Door Mark-up Language) for showing on the front of your fridge
and BOEML (Back Of Envelope Mark-up Language) for developing radical
ideas.

That way, if your XML source data changes you only change one XSLT
transform - to the FO. And adding a new device only involves saying how
a particular FO declaration works for that device. (Note that means only
once *ever*, not once per XML document or once per project. You only
need to say how FO instructions are rendered on that device once - we
could all share the same XSLT file.)

This would make a WAP gateway into a simple XSL-FO to WML mapping
server, and the rest of us wouldn't have to learn WML.

It also raises an issue which I'm quite into at the moment, that of
chaining transformations.

Regards,

Mark




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