RE: Transition (was Re: Capitalize across "span")

	-----Original Message-----
	From:	John Udall 
	Sent:	Tuesday, February 10, 1998 6:56 AM
	To:	www-style@w3.org
	Cc:	Todd Fahrner
	Subject:	Re: Transition (was Re: Capitalize across
"span")

		Wrong.  Or at least, not completely right.  "If XML is
the source, then
	HTML is the output: display," as you say.  But in order to be
viable to the
	commercial world, the HTML display must be fully compatable with
legacy
	browsers.  And I'm sorry to say, but there are still quite a few
people out
	there using Netscape 1.22 and 2.02. You get <DIV> in Netscape
2.02, but
	there's no <SPAN> to be had. By supporting a full featured tag
set HTML 4.0
	transitional provides the opportunity for a truly smooth
transition from
	legacy browers to full XML support.  A company can generate
valid HTML
	documents for a variety of browser platforms while still
maintaining a
	single content-base in XML.

I like this idea - a good interim solution.  But can someone say how you
detect, in say a Perl CGI script or Omnimark code in an Omnimark Server,
which browser you are sending data to.  This is a fundamental part of
the equation I don't understand.

		Cutting yourself off from your customer base just
because they don't have
	the latest and greatest technology is one of the surest way to
kill off a
	business that I know of. It breeds ill will. Backwards
compatability is
	important. IMHO, the W3C is taking a wise path with HTML 4.0
transitional
	that will allow business to continue to provide services even as
they move
	to newer and better technologies. 

	...

	John Udall,                                       
	      Programmer/Systems Administrator            40 Warren Hall
	Extension Electronic Technologies Group           Cornell
University
	Cornell Cooperative Extension                     Ithaca, NY
14853
	email: jsu1@cornell.edu                           Phone: (607)
255-8127

Thanks,

Brooke

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Received on Monday, 9 February 1998 18:13:58 UTC