[REX]: Name "Remote Events for XML" is misleading

Hi everyone,

REX stands for Remote Events for XML. However, so far as I can tell,  
it does not actually define a remote event mechanism for xml.  
Instead, it defines a patch format for DOM documents, with a promise  
to overload this patch format in the future to also be an event  
description format.

The reasons I say this are:

- All the currently defined events are DOM mutation events, and the  
behavior specified is not to dispatch an event but rather to mutate  
the DOM. This then has the side effect of dispatching a DOM mutation  
event, as normally happens on mutation. While this uses terminology  
from DOM mutation events, it amounts to a diff format since it  
describes a changes to the DOM, not events to be dispatched.

- Nothing is stated about where REX messages come from, or what  
applies them to the document. Without saying anything about how you  
might get a REX message or what is done to process it, it seems  
difficult to justify use of the word "remote". It would be like  
calling the output of "diff" a Remote Change Format For Text Files.

I am not sure if this is a problem with the title or the contents of  
the spec. I find it difficult to review the specification further  
since I'm not clear on its purpose.

Regards,
Maciej

Received on Sunday, 12 February 2006 03:08:00 UTC