Minutes from 15 August publication tools meeting.

Hello,

I've posted a first revision of the minutes [1] on the Web and
included them as text below (including action items, without
URIs explicit). Please also refer to the IRC log [2].

Comments and corrections welcome. Thank you all very much for
attending and for accepting action items so that we will be
able to advance. I look foward to more discussion on this list.

Best regards,

 - Ian

[1] http://www.w3.org/2000/08/15-spec-prod
[2] http://www.w3.org/2000/08/15-spec-prod-irc

-- 
Ian Jacobs (jacobs@w3.org)   http://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs
Tel:                         +1 831 457-2842
Cell:                        +1 917 450-8783

           Minutes of 15 August 2000 Spec production teleconference

   [1]Discussion | [2]Summary of action items

   Refer also to:
     * The [3]meeting announcement on spec-prod. (and [4]belated
       announcement on chairs).
     * The public [5]IRC log of the meeting.

   There is no next meeting scheduled; discussion will take place on the
   [6]spec-prod list ([7]archive). Deadline for action items is 12
   September.

   Scribe Note: Some of the links on this page are to Member-only
   information.

Participants

   Janet Daly, Max Froumentin, Paul Grosso, Max Froumentin, Eduardo
   Gutentag, Hugo Haas, Patrick Ion, Ian Jacobs (Chair/Scribe), Susan
   Lesch, Philippe Le Hégaret, Arnaud Le Hors, Eve Maler, Norm Walsh.
   Also, Karl Best (briefly).

   Chair Note: The bridge was full at the beginning of the call as the
   previous Working Group's teleconference ended. I apologize to those
   who missed the call because they were not able to join the call
during
   the first few minutes.

Discussion

   Scribe Note: I've organized the minutes according to publication
   scenarios, not based on the order of comments.

  Direct publication of XML documents

   PG: We can distinguish two cases:
    1. Publishing XML documents directly with a canonical style sheet.
    2. Using XML as a source format for generating other formats, and
not
       requiring that the source XML be readily publishable with a
       canonical style sheet.

   PG: Documentation of processes and policies for naming, content
   negotiation, etc. when publishing html generated from xml, or when
   publishing xml directly. (Some issues that arose during publication
of
   XML 1.0 second edition).

  Tools people are using

   For validation:
          The [8]W3C "comma tools" (for validation of HTML, CSS, link
          checking, etc.)

   For generation of html from an xml or xhtml source:

          + DOM WG: DOM scripts (in Java) for generating html, chunking.
            Refer to [9]DOM Editors notes for details.
          + WAI WGs, HTML 4, CSS 2: Perl scripts. These are undocumented
            (hence this whole project!).
          + Other WGs: XSLT style sheet (refer to [10]XMLspec Processing
            Applications).
          + [11]xalan (java tool for transforming XML documents into
            HTML, text, or other XML document types).

          EM: Do people expect to continue to author in xhtml and
convert
          each time to XMLSpec, or to convert once to XMLspec and
          continue from there? Conversion strategies will differ
          depending on what your goals are in this regard. I recommend
          optimizing for one-time conversion.

   For PDF/PS generation

          + WAI WGs: html2ps, ps2pdf
          + MathML: xslt to produce TeX, then PDFTeX.
          + [12]FOP (XSL FO to PDF), [13]PassiveTeX (XSL to PDF through
            TeX), [14]Epic, tool from Oracle.
            MF: I'm working on tools to generate XSL FO's from XMLSpec.
            I've had some problems getting FOP (XSL FOs to PDF) to work
            on documents larger than 10 pages.
            NW: There are ways to increase the memory limits.
          + Adobe distiller

          ALH: We should focus on generating PDF. Then you get PS for
          free.

   For text generation:
          Lynx, Netscape.

   For editing:
          [15]Epic, [16]xed (NW to make Linux port available soon),
          emacs, etc.

   Scribe Note: The previous list has been gleaned from the IRC log and
   does not constitute produce endorsement.

  Tools people want

     * EG: I want a visual xsl editor.
     * EM: Canonical TR style sheet for XMLSpec
     * One-stop validation, link checking, etc. for w3c editors.

  Other issues raised:

     * Exensibility of XMLSpec v. process for incorporating features
into
       the core.
       IJ: Dan Connolly does not want a centrally managed DTDs. Use
       schemas.
       PLH: I'd prefer not to have extensibility, but would like a
formal
       process for getting something in the DTD.
       EM: I think that in general people will want to extend the DTD
for
       their specific needs.
       NW: The reasonable way forward is to approach this as a parallel
       standardization: have a core DTD + style sheet. When you want to
       propose an extension, some group reviews the proposal and helps
       them extend it for their needs.
       PG: I'd rather people avoid extending where possible. If they're
       using XML as a database (case a above), that's one thing. But if
       they're using XML to publish directly, then avoid extensions.
       EM: A single XML DTD will help people meet W3C [17]publication
       rules. Do you prefer "late binding" (everyone can do what they
       want as long as they meet pubrules) or "early binding" (if you
       start with XMLSpec or some other tool provided by the W3C Comm
       team, you will get a lot for free).
     * There was a small amount of discussion about coordination with
       other groups (Oasis, IETF) at least for the purposes of
       constructive input and possibly for coordinating a core set of
       reusable tools.
     * Chunking and single documents, online and offline reading.

Summary of Action items

   Results of all actions to be sent to [18]spec-prod. Deadline for all
   action items: 12 September 2000.
     * EM: Propose harmonized version of various XMLspec DTDs in use by
       different WGs.
       Issue: What should the core be? E.g., should it include
       possibilities for DOM APIs since more than DOM WG are developing
       these APIs?
     * NW: Propose canonical style sheet for publishing XMLspec
documents
       as W3C technical reports, based on various style sheets in
       development independently. HH and NW will work together to ensure
       the unified style sheet available in CVS. Please send your style
       sheets to Norm at spec-prod.
     * IJ: Update "[19]How to Release a W3C Technical Report" with more
       information about XML processing. Clean up since some information
       redundant with respect to [20]publication rules. Include
reference
       to comma tools.
       IJ: Those present unanimously agreed that information about
       publication tools should be public.
       ISSUE: spec-prod is public and so should be any home page for
       information to editors. How to release a W3C tech report is
       Member-only.
     * JD: Talk to W3C management about securing resources for ongoing
       tracking, development, and promotion of publication tools.
     * EM and IJ: Encourage participation on spec-prod by other W3C
       editors (e.g., by sending email to chairs).

Received on Tuesday, 15 August 2000 19:00:16 UTC