Re: Seperating Document Content from Structure (was RE: inline CSS - score so far)

On Thu, 24 Feb 2000, Walter Ian Kaye wrote:

> At 04:59a -0500 02/24/00, Arjun Ray didst inscribe upon an electronic papyrus:
> >On Thu, 24 Feb 2000, Walter Ian Kaye wrote:
> >
> >  > and the web designer can easily modify the template file without
> >  > seeing any programming code at all.
> >
> >Never mind validated output, never mind well-formed output, is there
> >any guarantee that the output will even have proper nesting?  Nah, why
> >bother, right?;)
> 
> Oh, are we segueing into authoring competence? 

No.  Competence isn't the issue.  It's QA: the idea is not to rely on
good intentions or, for that matter, on competence.  (The idea, that
using a validator must be a slur on someone's competence, I find quite
intriguing.)

For instance, the people modifying the template would have to know
about your placeholders - otherwise, they might remove some, edit
some, even duplicate some, and so on.

But once any kind of pre-validation step becomes part of the process
flow, doesn't the general subject of end-to-end validation arise (even
if it's to state a "don't care" policy)? 

> People will do what people will do; that's life. I think all we
> can do against that are two things: education and voting with our
> feet.

Education, I've found, is quite pointless.  Too few learn to make any
difference.  The answer is Damage Control and of course, the second
option you mention.


Arjun

Received on Thursday, 24 February 2000 05:47:08 UTC