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Jeni Tennison wrote:
> The Datatype Library Language (DTLL) that I've been working on should
> eventually provide a declarative method for defining datatypes for
> RELAX NG (etc.), but it's at a fairly early stage, and there aren't
> any implementations yet.
Interesting. Potentially important. One small concern that tickled the
back of my head when I read this, though: the target audience. You
write, "Most RELAX NG validators provide built-in support for the XML
Schema datatype library. Many also support an interface that allows you
to plug in datatype modules, written in the programming language of your
choice, to define extra datatypes. But the fact that these datatype
libraries have to be programmed means that ordinary users find them hard
to construct."
I can't see "ordinary users" defining their own data types, writing XML
by hand to do this, or learning regular expressions as the proposal
seems to require. I do think this could be a *very* useful tool for
programmers who find it easier to use this language rather than writing
their own Java/C# code. Small languages are good. But I would design it
with the idea that the people likely to be using it are developers
rather than ordinary users and target it at their skills and
expectations. I'd rather have a tool powerful to help developers rather
than one that's simple enough for end users, if a choice needs to be
made between the two.
--
Elliotte Rusty Harold elharo@metalab.unc.edu
XML in a Nutshell 3rd Edition Just Published!
http://www.cafeconleche.org/books/xian3/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0596007647/cafeaulaitA/ref=nosim
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