Re: SVG ouside the browser...

"Mark Birbeck" <Mark.Birbeck@x-port.net> wrote in message 
news:002f01c4d1c3$a3f002e0$0e01a8c0@W100...
> The data that comes back is then checked and if there is no
> error code, and the data is XML, it is placed in an instance (or could be
> used as a new page).

Where it needs to be checked all again of course, so we've not simplified 
things, one of the things we do to simplify script is do very simple 
validation to pick up the 90% of silly answers (e.g. we might check that 
there's something in the date field, but we won't check that they're not 
trying to buy a train ticket for last week [*])  This simplifies the script, 
and reduces the amount of duplication - sure we can do the simple checks in 
the X-Forms instances too, but are we really then using the X-Forms 
strengths?

> Now, a customer of ours wanted to be able to access an Oracle Lite 
> database
> on their users' laptops, so that they could work offline.

This is much more where I see the utility of X-Forms, not in the 
web-application arena, but in the local lightweight application arena, that 
re-uses web and web-like technology for rapid application deployment, 
especially of systems that have had an online analog (so local product 
databases, or offline bug/user trackers etc.)  As you say interfacing with a 
database and rendering/maintaining the content is a good example of this. 
Here because you can trust the output of X-Forms, it makes sense to use the 
very good validation capabilities.

My own development of these sort of things has always used Zeepe and 
HTML/script, am I ready to move to a forms player, I dunno, I've never 
evaluated one sufficiently to know, so I'll carry with the devil I know 
until I get the time for that.  X-Forms haven't yet sounded persuasive 
enough to make the jump.  Not least because I have more faith in the mature 
trident never changing, than what are still young X-Forms implementations.

That is where I see the utility of X-Forms, but the problem here is, it's 
quite a niche, and I don't know if it's worth learning the necessary 
skills - (which is similar to the question if learning the skills of SVG is 
valuable as well)  I really like the concept of X-Forms, it's just I don't 
know if it's enough of an improvement for me to invest in the new set of 
problems I'm going to have to solve.

Cheers,

Jim.

[*] Of course we would probably avoid this anyway as it's dependant on an 
accurate local clock.

Received on Wednesday, 24 November 2004 21:41:07 UTC