Documentation : XML

[Roger Oberholtzer]

Same here. We are moving all our configuration info and measurement
descriptions to XML. Mainly because the format will allow more
flexibility in what is and what is not in the file. From our POV, XML
should allow us to add things to and remove things from these files as
we see fit. Without having to rework the parts that parse the files. Of
course, we still need to deal with changed content at some higher level.
And more and more of our customers want different views of these files.
XSL should help with that. That's the plan.

Our current question is to if we should implement DOM (some XML library
parses a whole XML file in and then your program picks out interesting
bits) or SAX (the XML parser calls your program as it moves through the
file). Our files are small (the ones up for becoming XML at this time)
so we are tending to DOM. Any opinions?

Be sure to start at http://www.xml.org/xml/resources_cover.shtml

If you want a good script lang for XML, look at TCL. It has excellent
extensions. But we will most likely be using GNOME's libxml2
(http://www.xmlsoft.org/) from C.

Of course, the OpenOffice/StarOffice file format is XML (unzip the file
to see how it is stored). And FrameMaker has had an XML component for
years. But keep in mind that this means that these two programs could
parse each others files - but not necessarily understand what was
parsed. Maybe one calls a paragraph a 'para' and other calls it a
'paragraph'. There is no common DTD (which can be used to control how
the XML file is set up - what are things called and what properties do
they have) for documents. There are starting to be DTDs for many things.
Like component description in medicine. But a commonly agreed DTD for
desktop documenting is not to be found. So, DocBook's XML is still,
well, DocBook's XML. I wonder if OO will ever support DocBook's DTD.

To find DTDs, start at www.schema.net (currently down for repairs), or
www.xml.org/xml/registry.jsp

Maybe the info you want to put in an XML file already has a DTD that is
gaining common usage. To find DTDs, start at www.schema.net, or
www.xml.org/xml/registry.jsp


Still, just being able to read it is a big first step.


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? Roger Oberholtzer          ?   E-mail: roger at opq.se        ?
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