Re: How to specify a Processing Instruction?

[ComCity <mikeb@comcity.com>]

Well, this is not what I read.  I read that the encoding part of the
processing instruction is something that will be used eventually by the
server I'm sending it to.  Right now, I'm just creating the document from
scratch so there really is "no" encoding.  I want to set the encoding so
that the eventually server will be able to understand the XML document....it
expects ISO-8859-1.  This seems a bit like a chicken and the egg....

I basically want to start with an xml document that has the basic
"framework" and then I want to add and change some of the nodes so that they
have want the server expects and then I want to send this off.  If I try to
read the document in completely blank as only:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
It still gives me an error saying it can't read it in.  Of course, at that
point, its not only not encoded, there's nothing there at all.

This whole issue of how encoding in XML works is the weakest thing.....I
went to Borders books yesterday and I looked at every single book on the
shelf - a total of more than 40-50....it took me hours and there wasn't more
than a page on encoding in any one book.  And, even then, it simply
explained what encoding was and nothing practical.  How do you create a
document from scratch with a particular encoding?  How do you change the
encoding of an existing document?  I can't really find any decent
documentation on this anywhere.  To top it all off its the heart and soul of
how XML works....without it, XML is nothing but a dream.  I could be able to
read in an XML document and then there should be a basic MSXML method that
will allow me to convert the document or a single node from one encoding
style to another....it doesn't exist....how can that not exist?  Is there
some other method in VB that lets me change from encoding to another?

I'm sure the problem is that I really don't understand something very basic
but I admit it --- it has to be that way, otherwise, there are some major
fundamental operations that seem to be critically missing on how to
manipulate XML documents for the different encoding styles of the world.

Thank You very much.
Michael Barber
ComCity Corporation
6690 Amador Plaza Rd., Suite 115
Dublin CA
925-556-6940
Fax: 925-556-6945

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----- Original Message -----
From: Julian Reschke <julian.reschke@gmx.de>
To: ComCity <mikeb@comcity.com>; <xml-dev@lists.xml.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2001 12:23 AM
Subject: RE: How to specify a Processing Instruction?


> > From: ComCity [mailto:mikeb@comcity.com]
> > Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2001 11:43 PM
> > To: xml-dev@lists.xml.org
> > Subject: How to specify a Processing Instruction?
> >
> >
> > I need to create an MSXML document with a specific Processing
Instruction
> > and I'm finding it impossible to do.  First, I tried create a template
XML
> > document on disk that I read in and modify it.
> >
> > Unfortunately, the XML file opens fine when it says this at the top
> > <?xml version="1.0"?>
> >
> > but if I change it to this, which is what I need, it won't open.
> > <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
> >
> > Why?
>
> This will only work when the file actually *IS* encoded in ISO-8859-1. For
> instance, it will fail for files encoded in UTF-8 or UTF-16.
>
> > I can't even seem to be a way to create a new XML document by scratch
(or
> > one that I can find) where you can create a new processing instruction
> > beyond one that contains the version only even modify an existing XML
> > document where you would change the
> > processing instruction.
>
> The XML declaration isn't a processing instruction. It's a conformance bug
> in MSXML to treat it this way.
>
> > There's IXMLDOMProcessingInstruction ....
> >
> > Very little documentation on it, but it only allow appears to let
> > you set or
> > change the XML version.  I need to set the encoding as well.
> >
> > I need to be able to send an XML document and the processing instruction
> > mus be:  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
>
> So what you really want it is: specify the output encoding when saving the
> contents of the DOM to an XML file. This is currently outside the scope of
> the DOM spec (DOM level 2 doesn't treat saving at all).
>
> As far as I know, MSXML should support setting a processing instruction
with
> target "xml" and value "version='1.0' encoding='ISO-8859-1'" and later
will
> use the encoding value when saving.
>
>