FW: XSLT 1.1 and 2.0 status

Dear editors,

As an XSLT user working in areas heavily dependent on the features
proposed for XSLT 1.1, I request an official, detailed statement 
from the W3C regarding the discontinuation of the XSLT 1.1 draft.

As you can see below, Max Froumentin has taken the time to explain
some of the issues to me. However, there are thousands of XSLT users
who also deserve this information. Currently the only information
available is a single, very short, paragraph in the latest XSLT
1.1 draft.

Best regards,

Agnes Clarke
www.agslin.net 

-----Original Message-----
From: Max Froumentin [mailto:mf@w3.org] 
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 2:05 PM
To: Clarke, Agnes
Subject: Re: XSLT 1.1 and 2.0 status


Agnes,

The problems that XSLT 1.1 posed which led to the decision that it was
better to abandon it for XSLT 2.0 were that the most changes
introduced were found to be incompatible with XML Query. The XSL
Working Group is chartered to work with the XML Query WG in order to
maximise compatibility (especially regarding XPath), and 1.1 was not
going in that direction. For example, the notion of multiple output
documents was not compatible with XML Query's Document
Collections. Other problems, such as the fact that multiple output
documents are problematic on client-side processors also led to the
decision. This is not saying that the feature will be removed, but
rather that it will be rethought to better fit a general processing
model, while staying as compatible as possible with what is in XSLT
1.1.

As for the availability of XSLT 2.0, there is no scheduled date for
release. I agree with you that it is a long time since XSLT has
changed, but working with XML Query has added a level of complexity
which takes a while to sort out. The Working Group still thinks it is
worth waiting, though, because we think that interoperability is of
utmost importance among W3C specifications.

Your request for more information is justified, and I suggest you send
a formal request to xsl-editors@w3.org for an official detailed
statement, or even ask on the XSL mailing list, where a few Working
Group members are active.

Best regards,

Max.

Received on Thursday, 13 September 2001 12:24:34 UTC