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XML Editors

> Date: Fri, 13 Sep 1996 10:06:21 +0000
> From: jjc@jclark.com (James Clark)
>
> XML isn't intended to be convenient to create by hand with a text
> editor.  People are mostly expected to be using SGML/XML editors to
> create. . . .

I can understand a lot of our discussions in light of parsing, viewing,
browsing, searching, and other read-only applications, but I'm not sure
I really understand the implications of our discussions wrt authoring,
editing, and other read-write applications.  I have two questions on
my mind in this regard.

--

I.  Which of the following statements comes closest to describing this
    group's design goals with respect to creating XML?

We plan to define XML so that:

(1) the majority of existing SGML editors can create XML;
(2) in theory, an ideal SGML editor could create XML;
(3) new tools will have to be created or existing tools modified 
    to enable the creation of XML.

There seems to be two "environments" in which the above could be
answered:  (a) given that the editing tool has access to an SGML
declaration and DTD that exists (or is generated) above and beyond that
which is part of the XML definition itself, and (b) given just what we
define XML to be.

--

II. Under the category of (b) above, assuming we continue down the road of
defining XML in such a fashion that it does not include a complete DTD,
then I don't see how is it possible for there to be any XML editor that
could create only XML that conforms to a given DTD (e.g., given any
non-trivial DTD, one could always cut and paste some of the document
to violate one or more of the existing content models or attribute
definitions).

In other words, to say that XML is to be creatable (not just readable) 
without reference to a DTD is to say that there is no single non-trivial 
DTD that can a priori be known to be able to represent the potential
output of an XML editing session even given a DTD that represented the
document at the start of the editing session.

Is this, in fact, the crux of the goal of this XML effort:  that an
XML content provider or editor can create new elements/attributes on
the fly and insert them however they wish in the document (with about
the only constraint being that the basic synchronicity of element
hierarchy be maintained)?


paul

p.s.  I'm not sure of my own feelings about the above, so don't try
too hard to read any bias into my statements at this time.
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