Re: [dgd@cs.bu.edu: BOS confusion (analysis; suggestion to resolve Newcomb/Bryan conflict)]

At 8:34 AM 1/3/97, W. Eliot Kimber wrote:
>At 10:10 AM 1/3/97 -0500, David G. Durand wrote:
>>Well, if it _requires the entity reference,_ then we should not use HyTime.
>
>It doesn't require an entity reference.
Great! This is important!

>  Using my proposed scheme, you
>could use a queryloc to contain the URL, e.g.:
>
>  <urlloc id="bookrev">http://www.drmacro.com/bookrev</urlloc>
>  <P>
>  See <link linkend="bookrev">my book review site</link> for
>  a draft introduction to HyTime.

But surely you can also do something like:
 <p>See <link linkend="http://www.drmacro.com/bookrev">my book review
site</link> for ...

If not, we still have a problem, because that extra element is not
acceptable for simple links. It's not a problem as an option to support TEI
linking, or some esoteric linking method.

I also think we need to look at the #-sign hack. I've as yet seen no
justification for _not_ using URL-compatible link formats. Gavin has argued
for a different kind of URL-compatibility, but it still has a real flaw:

   We can't make link formats depend on the server: so if we have path
extensions on URLs, like his proposed "/chapter=4/p=23" then we need
browsers to be able to parse these addresses -- and I think that violates
the URL opaqueness condition that I stated, along with its consequencs.

I want to make clear that I am not saying that extra elements or entity
references _cannot_ be used in XML linking, they almost certainly will be
needed. However, nothing that can currently be done in HTML should become
any harder when using XML -- that would be a prescription for failure. Call
me reactionary, but I'm just trying to speak for the people who already
know HTML who just want to get the job done -- they may accept additional
complexity for additional power, but if what they can already do becomes
harder, they won't necessarily take the trouble to enter our brave new
world of descriptive markup.

   -- David

I am not a number. I am an undefined character.
_________________________________________
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/
MAPA: mapping for the WWW                    \__________________________

Received on Friday, 3 January 1997 12:17:37 UTC