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Re: The Future of Browser-Bound XML?
- From: Wendell Piez <wapiez at mulberrytech dot com>
- To: xsl-list at lists dot mulberrytech dot com
- Date: Thu, 04 Jul 2002 11:47:15 -0400
- Subject: Re: [xsl] The Future of Browser-Bound XML?
- References: <5.1.0.14.0.20020703163814.01f1a790@earthlink.net>
- Reply-to: xsl-list at lists dot mulberrytech dot com
Hi Francis,
At 05:54 AM 7/4/2002, you wrote:
I've often wondered whether Adobe Acrobat wouldn't make a nice native XML
browser if it had built in FO(and SVG!) support and an XSLT engine. Mind
you, I'm not asking them to parse HTML ... wouldn't wish that on anyone.
Well, Adobe make a very nice SVG plug in. It might be possible to make an
XSL-FO -> SVG converter - probably not a job for (straight) XSLT as you'd
need access to font characteristics in order to do word-placement and
wrapping. But an interesting project nonetheless, and you'd get support
for embedded SVG for free :)
Yes, I've thought about this too -- and so, apparently, have the FOP team:
SVG is one of the rendering options they provide. (When I tried it, back
when, it didn't really work, but then that's perhaps overly hopeful.) It's
a pretty interesting problem, though I agree XSLT isn't the tool for the
job (I can tell that because it makes my head hurt).
We're in a pretty interesting stage at the moment, when the various
approaches coming from different directions, with different strengths, are
moving side by side and butting up against each other. Throw SVG into an FO
formatter; throw FO or some kind of FO-lite into SVG? An HTML/CSS browser
as a plugin to an SVG application (it'd be pretty cool if an SVG could have
an HTML/XML window in it)?
Short of this, I've been cooking up a little XML system to help me create
conference posters. References to (raster) screen shots are pulled together
in a generic XML format with language for annotations; then XSLT creates an
SVG file out of it that layers the notes on top of the screen shots. Then
the whole thing gets pulled into FO for formatting in PDF and printing...
... if this were being done on company time, I might even be able to finish
it past the point of just making the poster I have due in two weeks....
Cheers,
Wendell
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Wendell Piez mailto:wapiez@mulberrytech.com
Mulberry Technologies, Inc. http://www.mulberrytech.com
17 West Jefferson Street Direct Phone: 301/315-9635
Suite 207 Phone: 301/315-9631
Rockville, MD 20850 Fax: 301/315-8285
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