Re: Nodelists as values

"Henry S. Thompson" <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk> writes:
> While we're getting our wishlist out (see Norm's previous posting) for
> obscure facilities which we need for pipelines we're writing, I've
> finally been converted to the restricting-values-to-strings-is-crazy
> position.

Welcome. Don't worry, we're friendly.

> But here's why we're _not_ going to do this in V1:  it would take a
> substantial amount of work to decide how to get things _back_ from
> such values.

Really? I'd have thought string($expr) was the obvious answer.

>  Would we allow, e.g.,
>
>  <p:declare-step type="my:demo">
>   <p:output name="result" sequence="true" primary="true"/>
>   <p:option name="attrSet"/>
>
>   <p:identity select="$attrSet"/>
>   <p:for-each>
>    <p:load>
>     <p:with-option name="href" select="."/>
>    </p:load>
>   </p:for-each>
>  </p:pipeline>
>
> To be useful, such a pipeline would need to be allowed.  But that's
> too big a change for this late in the game. . .

I was so convinced that it was both necessary and easy to do that I
implemented sequences of nodes as values in XML Calabash. If you use
the "-X general-values" option, XML Calabash is a non-conforming
processor that (probably) does what you want.

                                        Be seeing you,
                                          norm

-- 
Norman Walsh <ndw@nwalsh.com> | In science, "fact" can only mean
http://nwalsh.com/            | "confirmed to such a degree that it
                              | would be perverse to withhold
                              | provisional assent." I suppose that
                              | apples might start to rise tomorrow,
                              | but the possibility does not merit
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                              | classrooms.--Stephen J. Gould