RE: Question

Yes, all of this can be accomplished with plug-ins.  However, many
corporations and Federal agencies do not allow their staff to freely
download plug-ins because of security and platform compatibility reasons
- argh, that system administrator.      So, to create content that is
truly accessible by the masses, a server-side solution is the answer.

Gary Sikora
Progeny Systems Corp 

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Birbeck [mailto:Mark.Birbeck@x-port.net] 
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 5:49 PM
To: 'John Boyer'; www-forms@w3.org
Cc: Barny Swain; Hemant.Desai@patni.com
Subject: RE: Question



John wrote:
> That being said, I don't see an overwhelming need for Microsoft to 
> ever provide direct support for XForms because they already provide 
> cool technologies for others to insert custom technologies for which 
> they are experts.

I agree with John, which is perhaps not surprising given that we produce
a plug-in for IE 6. Looking at the quality of the MathML plug-in from
Design Science and the SVG plug-ins from Adobe and Corel you can see
that these are the 'components' of the web of the future - and they are
not integrated into IE.

I would also suggest that there is actually no point in adopting the
approach of 'waiting for the major browsers'. This always seems to
become a discussion point whenever a new technology comes along. But
taking this approach means you are always waiting, since W3C, OASIS,
IETF and others don't stand still, and not even Microsoft can keep up
with all of the useful standards that are coming out.

We are all debating about whether IE will include XForms, because that
is our interest, but other lists are debating whether IE will have
MathML, SVG, XML encryption and signature, DOM 3, XHTML 2.0, DOM 3
XPath, CC/PP, and so on! That's a lot of work, just to stand still.

> but many people choose to add the PDF control to their system because 
> it is a very good document presentment technology.

Again you are right - your argument is proved by Flash and the SVG
plug-ins. I think people will download a plug-in that gives them real
value, and web designers will use plug-ins if it makes their sites
better and easier to build.

Mark


Mark Birbeck
Co-author Professional XML and
Professional XML Meta Data,
both by Wrox Press

Download our XForms processor for IE 6
at http://www.FormsPlayer.com/

Managing Director
x-port.net Ltd.
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Received on Wednesday, 19 February 2003 19:37:32 UTC