Re: What to do given both SYSTEM and PUBLIC?

> Whether using a TR9401 catalog and/or a MIME solution, there needs
> to be some "packing" and "unpacking" process that determines what
> all is needed in the package, finds and collects all the bits, and
> generates the interchange package and/or catalog or expands the
> interchange package back into a bunch of files appropriately placed
> and named.  That is, defining a packing mechanism doesn't solve the
> problem if it still requires manual effort to create or process the
> package.  I wouldn't add such packing/unpacking requirements to XML,
> so the definition of XML and the solution to interchange packaging
> seem to be separable issues.

I agree that it can be specified separately, I just hope it is specified. 
The SGML world seems to have come up with several elegant solutions 
to this problem of packaging entities: mime-SGML, SDIF, TR9401, etc. 

Whereas the "Java world" as represented by Sun just chose a solution based
on readily available software (.zip with no compression) and got on with
it.  I would really like it if we could just choose a solution and "get 
on with it." I don't care if it is as simple and inelegant as "tar" (in fact, 
I would prefer a system that was as simple as tar).

If, as you suggest, the solution is specified as a separate document, 
"XML-Package", then it can be replace at any future time with "XML-OLE"
or "XML-Bento" or whatever else is more advanced.

 Paul Prescod

Received on Wednesday, 19 February 1997 12:43:07 UTC