Offline reading techniques

At 04:31 PM 3/10/99 -0500, Ian Jacobs wrote:
>Misha Wolf wrote:
>
>> 11.  Checkpoint 15.9
>> 
>>      Context:
>>      "Facilitate off-line browsing by creating a single downloadable file
>>      for documents that exist as a series of separate pages. [Priority 3]
>>      For example, in HTML use the LINK element. Or create an archive of the
>>      different pages (e.g., with zip, gzip, stuffit, etc.)."
>> 
>>      I'm baffled by the sentence "For example, in HTML use the LINK
element."
>>      It would appear that two distinct issues have got collapsed into one.
>
>I agree. There are trwo problems in the example part of 15.9:
>  a) The LINK element should be mentioned in a checkpoint about
>     navigation tools (that may be synthesized by UAs).
>  b) The part about archives is another solution that is not
>     related to the checkpoint. This has to be cleared up.

Sorry.

Point a) -- there is in the HTML specification a remark suggesting that
LINK markup be used to annotate the structure of a super-document tree
composed of multiple HTML elements/files.  That is why LINK is mentioned
here.  This is a pretty academic point, however.  Perhaps in the
_techniques_ for this guideline, we can refer the reader to a tool that
walks the LINKs and merges the document in a print-to-file pass.

Point b) -- The .zip solution is related in that it facilitates review
while the user is not paying connect time charges.  Admittedly it is an
alternative to the literal satisfaction of the guideline as presently
stated.  But it is a technique addressing some of the same problems.

To create a guideline that fits both techniques, one could perhaps broaden
it to: "Facilitate offline reading of the material at a time and in a tool
of the user's choice."

Technique 1: Composite document in plain text file.

Technique 2: .zip etc. archive of document.

Al

Received on Wednesday, 10 March 1999 17:29:41 UTC