- From: len bullard <cbullard@hiwaay.net>
- Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 18:30:52 -0500
- To: lee@sq.com
- CC: w3c-sgml-wg@w3.org
lee@sq.com wrote: > > > I would much rather have 8 versions of: > > > <author> > > > <firstname>foo</firstname> > > > <lastname>bar</lastname> > > > </author> > > > > than have each server alpha-rename the tags to different > > incomprehensible tags, > > Another approach is to have a header, > <header> > <field element="a" name="firstname">First Name</field> > <field element="b" name="lastname">Last Name</field> > <field element="c" name="author">Warpper for Author record</field> > <field element="d" name="id">Unique ID for database key</field> > </header> > <body> > <c><a>Parcival</a><b>Snitterpoop</b><d>1</d></c> > <c><a>Priscilla</a><b>Winterbottom</b><d>2</d></c> > > and so forth. > > This maps conveniently into typesetting tables, and also into the > common variant of CSV files in which the first line lists the field names: > firstname,lastname,author,id > Parcival,Snitterpoop,1 > Priscilla,Winterbottom,2 > in which you can't actually distinguish the first line from the others > except by human understanding and inspection (ugh!). > > I have added textual descriptions in the header; these could be omitted if > unavailable, with the possibility of making the "field" element EMPTY. > > Lee Umm, what does one do for variants such as the multiple ways different cultures specify a date? It is not a problem in a class (make a subclass), but how do you recommend doing that in the header without an extra level of field tagging? It is a problem in some database applications. In fact, the customization problems for these are getting to be enormous. len
Received on Tuesday, 20 May 1997 19:31:14 UTC