Re: Permitting non-indirect links

At 06:33 PM 1/18/97 EST, Lee wrote:

>The only valid breakdown is
>    type: URL
>    scheme: http
>    opaque string: //www.sq.cm/cgi-bin/pcdocs/introduction.html
>
>but this isn't useful.  HoTMetaL cheats, and has (or used to have) a
>config file giving templates for the various schemes.

Actually, I did find a use for this, as I pointed out in a message I sent to
the Davenport group almost two years ago. It was written at the height of
the "HTML is all frenzy"; I was looking for a way to invert the process,
using "real" SGML tools to reach the Web, rather than the other way around.
I repeat the message here verbatim, if only for historical interest.

--Ralph

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*********

Date: Wed, 1 Feb 1995 19:44:42 -0500
From: Ralph Ferris <ralph@ossi.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <davenport@amber.ora.com>
Subject: Creating a non-HTML ``Home Page''


Hi Everyone:

I've been experimenting with Author/Editor's support for entities 
and notations to see if I could use them to build a ``home page'' 
without HTML. What I found is that by defining Mosaic as a 
``notation'' and assigning a URL to an entity, Mosaic can be launched
with the URL as an argument from within Author/Editor. In other words,
you can create a document in some DTD other than HTML (I used DocBook) 
and use it as a ``home page'' from within Author/Editor. For those of
us who have always oppossed the embedding of HTML anchors/URLS within
documents and advocated the use of entities instead, this experiment
shows how it can be done with an existing product. Note by the way
that you can't define an entity to be http://www.---; the entity
manager will interpret the ``http:'' portion as the name of a file it
can't find. The following instructions show what to do.

In a broader sense, this experiment may also show something else:
we don't need to take an ``HTML/Mosaic-centric'' view of the Web. We can
start with whatever DTD is required and go out to the Web as needed.
In fact, by defining other notations to invoke local scripts, other
tools can be accessed as needed. In this scenario, Web browsers
can be among these tools, rather than being the central tool(s) from 
which others are invoked.

**********************************************************************

         Launching Mosaic from Author/Editor on UNIX Systems

       1.  Defining Mosaic as a Notation

       Mosaic can be launched from within an Author/Editor document
       if Mosaic is first defined  as a NOTATION. To do this, add a
       NOTATION declaration to DocBook and then compile the DTD
       with the new entry using RulesBuilder. (A quick work-around
       that doesn't require modifying DocBook is to use any of the
       existing notations in DocBook that you aren't already using.
       For example, if you aren't using TIFF, you can define TIFF
       as the notation that invokes Mosaic.)

       After you've entered Mosaic as a NOTATION in DocBook and
       recompiled, use the Notation pull-down menu to define the
       actions you want taken when the entity is selected:

          o Select ``Edit Notation Action's"

          o Select ``Mosaic'' from the list of ``Notation Names.''

          o Enter the name or alias of the Mosaic executable,
            followed by ``http:%system;'' entry, e.g.,

                 xmosaic http:%system

          o From "Action Class", select "UNIX Launch."

          o Select ``New'' to register the notation.


       2.  Defining Entities

       After registering Mosaic as a  NOTATION with
       Author/Editor, you can define figure entities that will
       invoke URLs. For example, to access the DSSSL-lite write-up
       by James Clark, use the Entities pull-down menu as follows:

          o Select "Edit Figure Entities"

          o Enter //www.jclark.com/dsssl/lite.html as the File
            Name.

          o Select "Notation" as the Content Type.

          o Select Mosaic as the Figure Type


       3.  Using Entities in Mosaic Notation

       In Author/Editor, entities are inserted from ``Insert Entity''
       under the Entities pull-down menu. To invoke the action you
       have assigned to the entity, either double click on it or 
       select it and invoke it from ``Perform Action'' under the 
       Notation pull-down menu. In this case the action will be to 
       launch Mosaic with the URL you've assigned to the entity as an 
       argument.

Received on Monday, 20 January 1997 11:27:23 UTC