Re: 2.1 a-d: Link Recognition by Reserved Attribute?

At 8:25 AM -0600 2/21/97, len bullard wrote:
>Peter Flynn wrote:
>>
>> David Durand writes:
>>
>> > And we don't need to drag HyTime in to explain that.
>>
>> Amen.
>
>Dead wrong.
>
>First, "drag in" is inflamatory not helpful.  If it is an
>arch form, then referencing ISO 10744 does not hurt.
>Second, when SGML Lite is established by ISO, it makes
>the relationship clear and concise.

I meant that if we are taking a significantly shrunken subset of HyTime
Architectural Forms [for instance, I think we can and should avoid any
restrictions on content models], then it may be simpler to explain what we
are doing directly, rather than pointing at HyTime, and explaining the
differences.

   If you are defining a scripting language containing only the commands
"if-then-else", expressions, variable assignment and "while" loops,
pointing to C++ and saying what to ignore is not a productive explanatory
strategy. You might mention that C++ compaitibility is a goal, but that
would be additional information for the intersted, not part of the core
explanation.

   "Drag in" was intended to say that making normative reference to
irrelevant information is bad. In a separate message (maybe the same, for
all I remember) I clearly advocated retaining a reference to HyTime, and
it's AF facilities. I personally think it was a mistake to try to
standardise them for applicability beyond HyTime, but they exist and we
should not hide that fact. I'm not trying to supress the HyTime links --
HyTime has been very influential in forming how at least some of us think
about this stuff -- but I do want to make XML, and XML linking stand on
their own, without normative references to ISO standards.

>Y'all are wandering into the weeds of religion and personal
>animosities.  It won't help.

No personal animosity intended, nor religious argument either. I'm
religious about separating declaration and processing (though if we don't
define sufficiently powerful processing, I agree with you, we are SOL). I'm
certainly not religious about HyTime either way. In fact, I'm aggressively
agnostic. I think you may mistrust me because I'm so ready to question
HyTime's specific solutions, but I don't regret having spent the time on it
that I have, nor do I think it should be supressed.

   -- David

_________________________________________
David Durand              dgd@cs.bu.edu  \  david@dynamicDiagrams.com
Boston University Computer Science        \  Sr. Analyst
http://www.cs.bu.edu/students/grads/dgd/   \  Dynamic Diagrams
--------------------------------------------\  http://dynamicDiagrams.com/
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Received on Friday, 21 February 1997 14:30:42 UTC