Proposal for subordinate source elements

At 06:07 PM 11/30/2006 +0100, Innovimax SARL wrote:

>I now begin to agree that Murray's idea of a subordinated element would
>be a *good* idea. It will at least simplify the spec. This subordinated 
>element
>we could name it p:content will have three forms
><p:content port='' step='' />
><p:content href='' />
><p:content>
>  ...here document
></p:content>

I had something a bit more expressive in mind. Rather than a single element
with three forms, I was thinking of three distinct elements. The names that I
chose to represent them are subject to discussion. I initially wanted to extend
the pipeline metaphor and use plumbing terms, but I couldn't come up with
useful terms that could express the distinctions among step/port(s), URIs and
here documents. For the time being I used -- internal, external and here.

I have treated a here document just like a port or URI on the basis that a 
select
or test can be parameterized, thus making a static document a more practical
option for input to a choose/when.

While I was at it, I noticed that when/otherwise would indent better as 
when/else.
Yes, I do know that else usually goes with if, but I think it has the same 
meaning
as otherwise. As I say, it looks better when reading.

         <when> ... </when>
         <when> ... </when>
         <else> ... </else>

==========================================
For inputs:

<p:input port="myInput" select="..." sequence="no">
         <p:internal step="step1" port="result" />
</p:input>

<p:input port="myInput" select="..." sequence="no">
         <p:external href="..." />
</p:input>

<p:input port="myInput" select="..." sequence="no">
         <p:here>here document</p:here>
</p:input>

==========================================
For outputs:

<p:output port="myOutput" select="..." >
         <p:internal step="step1" port="result" />
</p:output >

<p:output port="myOutput" select="..." >
         <p:external href="..." />
</p:output >

<p:output port="myOutput" select="..." >
         <p:here>here document</p:here>
</p:output >


==========================================
For parameters:

<p:parameter name="myParam" value="myValue" />

<p:parameter name="myParam" >myValue</p:parameter >

<p:parameter name="myParam" select="..." >
         <p:internal step="step1" port="result" />
</p:parameter >

<p:parameter name="myParam" select="..." >
         <p:external href="..." />
</p:parameter >

<p:parameter name="myParam" select="..." >
         <p:here>myValue</p:here>
</p:parameter >

==========================================
For choose:

<p:choose name="myChoose" >
         <p:internal step="step1" port="result" />
         <p:when> ... </p:when>
         <p:otherwise> ... </p:/otherwise>
</p:choose>

<p:choose name="myChoose"  >
         <p:external href="..." />
         <p:when> ... </p:when>
         <p:otherwise> ... </p:/otherwise>
</p:choose>

<p:choose name="myChoose"  >
         <p:here>here document</p:here>
         <p:when> ... </p:when>
         <p:otherwise> ... </p:/otherwise>
</p:choose >

==========================================
For when: (see alternate for when below)

<p:when name="myWhen" test="expression" > <!-- context is from the parent 
choose -->
         ...
</p:when>

<p:when name="myWhen" test="expression" >
         <p:internal step="step1" port="result" />
         ...
</p:when>

<p:when name="myWhen" test="expression"  >
         <p:external href="..." />
         ...
</p:when>

<p:when name="myWhen" test="expression" >
         <p:here>here document</p:here>
         ...
</p:when>

==========================================
For when: (this an alternate for when)

<p:when name="myWhen" test="expression" > <!-- context is from the parent 
choose -->
         ...
</p:when>

<p:when name="myWhen" >
         <p:test expression="expression" >
                 <p:internal step="step1" port="result" />
         </p:test>
         ...
</p:when>

<p:when name="myWhen"  >
         <p:test expression="expression" >
                 <p:external href="..." />
         </p:test>
         ...
</p:when>

<p:when name="myWhen" >
         <p:test expression="expression" >
                 <p:here>here document</p:here>
         </p:test>
         ...
</p:when>

==========================================
One last thing to consider:

Both p:internal and p:external are empty elements. But imagine a scenario
in which the port of external resource is empty and you want to catch that
and substitute an alternate document, sort of like NOSCRIPT does for HTML.
If no alternate was provided, then the fall-through mechanism would be inactive
and an empty port/URI would be passed through -- so to speak. Otherwise, 
whatever
appears in the here document would be passed through.

         <p:internal step="step1" port="result" >
                 <p:here>...</p:here>
         </p:internal>

         <p:external href="..." >
                 <p:here>...</p:here>
         </p:external>

This is just a thought that occurred to me. I am not wed to the idea. It 
just seemed
like it could be an interesting convenience feature.

Looking forward to a lively discussion.

Regards,

Murray

Received on Thursday, 30 November 2006 20:38:02 UTC