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Bill,
Bill de hÓra wrote:
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Patrick Durusau [mailto:pdurusau@emory.edu]
>>
<snip>
>>
>
>Are we really done then? There's a lot of work done after Earley, ie
>Marcus, (and of which Schematron is possibly a special case, I'm not
>sure yet) that suggest to me we're not done without resorting to syntax.
>The ideal at the XML level would be not to resort to context-free
>parsers that require probabilities (PCFGs). And there's still markup to
>deal with, even when it's called punctuation ;)
>
Certainly not done with syntax!
Point being that we have artificially limited the range of options that
we have with syntax by the presumptions (unnecessary in my opinion) that
underlie it.
Would not necessarily even require context-free parsers. Imagine (you
can do this with SAX) that you specify rules that consume markup by
namespaces (well, at least namespaces as in classic concur). Certainly
could validate an XML document that is not "well-formed" through the
various namespaces.
Imagine using a context-free parser where you specify the resolution
rules for ambiguity. Resolution rules specified in RELAXNG? Suddenly
your markup syntax becomes a much more powerful tool since you impose
presumptions on the markup at the time of processing. Does this mean
that current markup syntax needs further work? Yes and the development
of that syntax will not be easy, particularly for those of us (I number
myself in this group) who are habituated to thinking in terms of classic
tree formulations.
There has certainly been a lot of work done after Earley and I am sure I
have only scratched the surface of that vast body of literature. My main
point being that we should examine the fundamental assumptions of markup
syntax in light of advances in parsing theory and practice. Particularly
when there are a whole range of problems that current markup practices
deal with poorly, if at all.
Simon: Not ignoring your post. I need to pack to leave for Berlin later
today and a proper response will take longer than I have at the moment.
Will response by later this week.
Patrick
--
Patrick Durusau
Director of Research and Development
Society of Biblical Literature
pdurusau@emory.edu
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