[XML-SIG] Confused and grasping

Jeff Blaine jblaine@shore.net
Thu, 23 Sep 1999 17:36:03 -0400


In message <14314.38975.299840.687370@amarok.cnri.reston.va.us>you write:
>Jeff Blaine writes:
>>Being a Python-head, I downloaded and poked at the XML-SIG's xml-0.5.1.tgz
>>today, and it all still seems like a programmer's toolkit.  Am I
>>wrong?
>>
>>It seems that xml-0.5.1.tgz is meant for XML gurus who want to develop
>>Python applications with XML functionality built in.
>
>Correct, and it's going to stay that way because the range of possible
>applications for XML is large.  I think it was Tim Bray who compared
>XML to ASCII; it's just a data format.  No one advertises "Version 2.0
>now supports ASCII!", because ASCII isn't exciting, and XML, in
>itself, isn't that exciting either.  Particular applications of XML
>may be exciting to you, but other applications may not be.  For
>example, I'm not really interested in producing formatted printed
>output from XML, but I am interested in storing bits of data in XML,
>perhaps inventing a DTD along the way.
>
>So, the base XML package is always going to be very nuts-and-bolts,
>aimed at letting people build basic XML parsing functions into their
>code.  The hope is that people will build MathML displayers, or
>DocBook formatters, or ICML servers, using the basic package.  What
>exactly are you in search of?

I apologize for this definitely getting out of Python XML-SIG
boundaries now.

Okay - I just needed that clarification (above) made to me.  I couldn't
figure out on my own from the tar.gz and the XML-SIG area on the Python web
site if I was missing something (being stupid) or not.

I'm just trying to sink my teeth into XML.  I want to use XML (and I
guess XSL) to redo my web site (????).

I want to find or write the DTD for describing something like the
document found at:

    http://www.shore.net/~jblaine/code-GCS.html

(the part starting with 'PyGCS README' centered).  Then with some
sort of backend formatter dealie I want to generate HTML, maybe
Postscript, etc...

Do I just still not understand what XML is?

I just am tired of writing un-marked or pseudo-marked text only to
realize I can't do anything with it other than copy it somewhere
and mark it up by hand into a different format.  I'm seeking a
single document format I guess....