Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: ScriptingNews 2.0b1 Comments

Author:Matt Hamer
Posted:6/16/1999; 11:58:50 AM
Topic:ScriptingNews 2.0b1 Comments
Msg #:7460 (In response to 7426)
Prev/Next:7459 / 7461

I'd suggest defining exactly which HTML tags and character entities are allowed within a document. Even if this isn't done with a DTD right away, I think it is important to do it in the textual description of the format. Earlier this year, I started a discussion thread, http://discuss.userland.com/msgReader$6368 related to this issue. Using HTML character entities causes parsing problems for non-validating XML parsers. Adding HTML by escaping the markup causes problems with interpretation on the client side. My application (see: http://weavelet.com) fixes up HTML entities before they reach the parser by converting them to numeric format. This works fine, but uses more processing power than necessary on my side. This isn't only a Scripting News problem. Many RSS channels are inappropriately using HTML character entities ( like  ) that aren't defined by default for generic XML. I haven't tried to solve the problem with escaped markup (on the client side) so instead of seeing things in italic, you'll see I'm away from the office right now at JavaOne but I'll try to help with these issues when I get a chance.

As you might imagine, XML is a very hot topic at JavaOne this year. Everyone is looking for real examples of XML in practical use & I'm pointing people to Scripting News (& RSS).

When I get home, I look forward to using ScriptingNews2.xml & looking at it in more detail.

-Matt (Live from JavaOne)



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