Re: Define a root in a DTD

[Benjamin Franz <snowhare@nihongo.org>]

On Wed, 27 Jun 2001, Peter Flynn wrote:

> On Wed, 27 Jun 2001, Olivier wrote:
> > Hello,
> >    When fragmenting an XML file, every fragment is likely to have a
> > different root. 
> 
> While possible, this sounds so unlikely I have to ask: why?

Here, at least, it is because it is infinitely simpler to divide a
document into 'major' subsections for processing via XSLT with external
entities than to attempt to break it down to the 'one document, one
record' level which is virtually impossible to process usefully via XSLT
without a backing XML database which can synthesize the needed 'one
document' view of (now) multiple documents needed.

Thus you get documents looking more like

File #1
 <data_type_1>
  <record/>
  <record/>
  <record/>
  <record/>
  <record/>
  <record/>
 </data_type_1>

File #2
 <data_type_2>
  <record/>
  <record/>
  <record/>
  <record/>
  <record/>
  <record/>
 </data_type_2>
 
Than

File #1
 <data_type_1>
  <content/>
 </data_type_1>

File #2
 <data_type_1>
  <content/>
 </data_type_1>

File #3
 <data_type_2>
  <content/>
 </data_type_2>

File #4
 <data_type_2>
  <content/>
 </data_type_2>

It gets back to the 'data centric' vice 'document centric' issue. SGMLer's
seem to instinctivly go document centric while people like myself
instinctively go data centric.

-- 
Benjamin Franz

  Programs must be written for people to read, and only 
  incidentally for machines to execute.
                             ---Abelson and Sussman