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

Thoughts on improving XML-RPC

Author:Brendan Dixon
Posted:7/9/1999; 4:48:15 PM
Topic:Thoughts on improving XML-RPC
Msg #:8372
Prev/Next:8371 / 8373

Here's a couple of thoughts you might want to consider adding to XML-RPC:

First, given my experience parsing XML, it might be nice if the structure were a little less verbose. I'm not certain if XML-Data is the right way to go, but PARAM or VALUE seem unnecessary.

Second, have you considered piping commands? For example, it would be nice if XML-RPC supported, as input for a parameter, the output of another XML-RPC call. Such recursion could be infinitely deep and saves moving data unnecessarily. Also, the calls need not be to server on the same machine: They could target arbitrary URLs effectively turning the Web into a giant command-line processor. Consider calling a search engine through XML-RPC and piping that output to another site (such as a Frontier site) that understood how to format random arrays of data. The possibilities are endless.

Lastly, what's the status of XML-RPC and W3C? Is this being pushed forward or are you looking solely for grassroots supports to swell it into a standard?

Thanks.

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