RE: XSL WG comments on XML Signatures

The disconnect is simply that we've defined the input and output of all
transforms to be strings.

We want to use XPath on the structures that those strings represent, but
until we parse() the transform input, we can't.  So, we added a function
parse() to convert the string into a structure, then we use XPath on the
structure, then we added a function serialize() to turn the result back into
a string.

Input, process, output.  It's the basis of all computing.

John Boyer
Software Development Manager
PureEdge Solutions, Inc. (formerly UWI.Com)
jboyer@PureEdge.com


-----Original Message-----
From: w3c-ietf-xmldsig-request@w3.org
[mailto:w3c-ietf-xmldsig-request@w3.org]On Behalf Of Christopher R.
Maden (by way of "Joseph M. Reagle Jr." <reagle@w3.org>)
Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2000 8:01 AM
To: IETF/W3C XML-DSig WG
Subject: RE: XSL WG comments on XML Signatures


I'm seeing a fundamental disconnect here.  XPath was designed to operate on
data structures, not on strings.  I understand that digital signatures
ultimately involve mathematical operations on a series of bytes, i.e.
strings, but shouldn't transformations apply to the structures represented
by those strings?

-Chris

--
Christopher R. Maden, Solutions Architect
Yomu (formerly Exemplary Technologies)
One Embarcadero Center, Ste. 2405
San Francisco, CA 94111

Received on Wednesday, 15 March 2000 11:57:50 UTC