xml-dev - Re: XInclude [was: XLink transformations]

[Paul Grosso <pgrosso@arbortext.com>]

At 12:15 2000 07 25 -0500, Ken MacLeod wrote:
>How does [XInlcude] differ from XLink's behaviors?
>
>I recently needed a similar "include" type functionality (pre- or
>post-transform) and asked on xsl-list, and then came to the conclusion
>that XLink's behaviors were the likely solution, but just not
>available yet (so, back to external merges).

XLink doesn't do inclusion in the XInclude sense.  

XInclude is more like knitting together parse trees 
(or infosets) at (or immediately after) parse time 
well before any application gets a chance at the document.
XInclusion in the original source document would occur 
even before any XSLT transformation occurred and well
before any XLinking or styling occurred.

XLink is an application that is handed a parse tree
(or infoset) that recognizes attributes in a special
namespace and as predefined special semantics associated
with that namespace that imply linking like behavior.
Linking behavior includes things like the ability to
"go to" another document (in the same or a new window)
and to "embed" (in a display sense, but not an infoset 
or parse tree sense) the rendering of another object 
(such as a graphic) within the rendered view of the 
current document.

paul