RE: XPath API start

Miles Sabin <msabin@cromwellmedia.co.uk> wrote on 05/03/2000 01:34 PM:
> Whoa!
>
> Is this in scope for this list? I didn't think we were
> discussing an XPath API, I thought we were discussing a DOM
> API for XPath queries?

Actually, yes, it is in scope.  I was just looking at the original
announcement for this list, and Miles note came to mind.  From the
announcement:

>Another possible outcome would be that this group design the
>complete API, and submit it to W3C as a Note, without any formal
>linkage to the DOM WG.

(see http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Member/w3c-xsl-wg/2000Apr/0060.html, for
those with Member access).

Though the announcement does state it as a list for "investigating a
W3C-DOM-based API for XPath", I think the above opens the door for
exploration into a XPath API that addresses more than just DOM users.

In the XSLT WG, in our explorations for a standard extensions interface,
there has been some talk of some minimal interfaces for Nodes, lists, and
trees, that do not use the DOM interfaces.  While I'm not necessarily
advocating this approach, it is a thought that an XPath API could exist
that doesn't take DOM nodes as arguments, which would open the door to
using XPath with other tree structures besides the DOM (since the DOM has
become so hard and expensive to implement).  I'm not trying to start
trouble, only stating that we should be open to various possibilities.

Certainly, one would hope that an XPath API for DOM or otherwise, should be
compatible with XSLT extensions.  Personally, I would hope this become a
requirement for this work.

-scott

Received on Monday, 8 May 2000 21:19:32 UTC