[xml-h] getting started

Bill Brown Bill.Brown@desertschools.org
Fri, 17 Jan 2003 10:08:48 -0700


Thanks for starting this list.

I notice that you titled this message "getting started" and I worry that
this list might be too advanced for me. I am a subscriber to Webdesign-L
and a long-time web developer (about four years in server-side stuff and
eight years in HTML). I have a very superficial familiarity with the
technologies you describe below and absolutely none with several of the
newer projects you list.

What interests me most in this area--what brought me to join this
list--is the use of XML as a foundation for a web site and XSLT to
transform said XML into a variety of formats. I like the idea of XML and
really like the idea of XSLT, but I'm not able to wrap my mind around
the notion of converting my current HTML into XML. It seems like you'd
ideally want a standardized DTD throughout the site for consistency's
sake, but it would be difficult to make your favorite links section look
semantically like your blog or writings section. Perhaps you would need
to create a variety of DTDs, but it seems like a lot of work.

At any rate, such a discussion seems very much outside of the contours
of the discussion you are trying to initiate below. Am I correct in
assuming that this list is for exploring advanced topics in XML?

Bill

: -----Original Message-----
: From: Simon St.Laurent
: Sent: 1/17/03 9:12 AM
: To: xml-hypertext@xmlhack.com
: Subject: [xml-h] getting started
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: We now have 55 subscribers, so it seems like a good idea to=20
: start the conversation.  There are people here from a wide=20
: variety of different backgrounds and interests, just judging=20
: by the names I already know.
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: I mentioned in the welcome message that there is already a=20
: lot of work that has been done in the general field of XML=20
: and hypertext, and that it's come through a variety of=20
: projects and communities.  Most but not all of this work is=20
: centered on the Web and Web technologies, though it's well=20
: worth remembering that hypertext and markup are two different=20
: toolkits - their intersection has been _very_ fruitful, but=20
: you don't need markup for hypertext or vice-versa.
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: Historically, I saw two main threads defining the=20
: intersection of markup and hypertext when I first got into=20
: all of this.  HTML had launched hypertext into widespread=20
: public adoption, while HyTime did far more but had a smaller=20
: community. HTML continues to be the main form of hypertext=20
: development that most people work with, while HyTime has had=20
: crucial influence on projects like XLink and Topic Maps.
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: Right now, I see several contending streams of thought in the=20
: XML and hypertext world:
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: * XHTML, especially XHTML 2.0 and HLink
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: * XLink/XPointer
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: * RDF=20
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: * Topic Maps
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: The first two, XHTML and XLink, are largely about traversable=20
: hypertext
: - either the user or the program typically retrieves and=20
: displays resources.  The second two are more concerned with=20
: defining relationships between resources than with traversal=20
: semantics per se.
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: Pretty much all of these projects are in flux and keep=20
: evolving.  At least two new proposals for traversable=20
: hypertext (SkunkLink and VELLUM) have emerged in the last=20
: month, and it seems probable that there will be more.
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: I don't think we need a roll call of who uses what, but=20
: you're all welcome to build on or contest these comments!
: --=20
: Simon St.Laurent