This is the mail archive of the
xsl-list@mulberrytech.com
mailing list .
Re: RDDL as a delivery vehicle for XSLT extensions?
- To: xsl-list at lists dot mulberrytech dot com
- Subject: Re: [xsl] RDDL as a delivery vehicle for XSLT extensions?
- From: "Clark C. Evans" <cce at clarkevans dot com>
- Date: Sat, 3 Mar 2001 22:32:51 -0500 (EST)
- cc: Jeni Tennison <mail at jenitennison dot com>, Steve Muench <Steve dot Muench at oracle dot com>
- Reply-To: xsl-list at lists dot mulberrytech dot com
On Sat, 3 Mar 2001, Steve Muench wrote:
> There is nothing sacred about the nickname, and
> you can use any nickname you want. The only thing
> that's important is the namespace URI for which
> it's a shortcut. It's only a vehicle to avoid
> typing. Imagine writing an XSLT stylesheet like this:
Steve,
The namespace mechanism is clear to most of us, as
James Clark's essay on his web site (well over a year
ago) pointed out. The problem I was having wasn't
understanding this concept at all.
My problem was two fold. First, groking that the script
implements a *namespace* rather than a prefix. After all,
it says:
<xsl:script implements-prefix="xxx" ...
>From reading this, and not studying the specification
in detail, someone without serious background here
might assume that this script is bound to the prefix
xxx -- which it isn't. Actually....
It is bound to a namespace identified by xxx in the
scope of the script element, and acctually implementes
functions having possibly different prefixes with the
said namespace binding other contexts.
IMHO, this is definately non-trivial. Which leads to the
second part, I do not have much experience with xsl:import.
And thus understanding the indented paragraph above was
essential... it really wasn't at all clear how these concepts
are related.
In conclusion I'd say that, despite the few keystrokes saved,
(and with GUI XSLT editors, not even a mouse click)
implements="namespace" is _far_ more clear and less error-prone
then implements-prefix="xxx". Seriously, the WG should consider
this point. I'm actually very experienced with XSLT, including
namespaces, and it wasn't at all obvious to me. IMHO, left as
implements-prefix this is going to be an entire FAQ section -- the
keystrokes saved are just not worth it. If someone wants to
save keystrokes, they should be using xsl:import...
Thanks!
Clark
XSL-List info and archive: http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list