RE: Implementing a single source management system painlessly
Hallo:======================================================
I missed the original post, but I fail to see why anyone urgently wants XML
. . . what does it bring to the table that you are failing to accomplish
with your current tools? Answer that question and you'll be well on your way
to pursuading those up the food chain . . ..
Those who discount the urgent need for XML should read the article about
the applicatiion of XML to biotechnology in the current issue of Scientific
American. Go to:
http://www.sciam.com/2000/1100issue/1100scicit4.html
In particular, read the 1st, 4th, and 5th paragraphs.
The first paragraph describes the dilemma not only of biologists,
but of knowledge workers in all sorts of disciplines,
namely that information of all types needs to be
reused/repurposed in ways never anticipated
by the originators. But the obstacle to effective
reuse is the lack of a standard for information interchange.
The 4th paragraph describes the standards dilemma--everyone
advocates standards, as long as they are his or her own.
XML is the solution, because it is shaping up to be the
standard computer language for the interchange of data
between applications.
The Extensible Style Language (XSL) includes both a transformation
language and a formatting language. These two languages can be
used independently or together. The transformation language
provides the ability to move from one XML representation (i.e.,
as specified by a DTD) to another. XSL is middleware that
can process XML data at either (or both) the sending and receiving ends.
XSL also permits XML information to be transformed into
non-XML representations, such as HTML, RTF, and PDF.
The use of DTDs allows information content to be validated
before it is used or stored in a database.
XML is designed to facilitate the movement of complex
information in and out of databases. While XML informatiion
is stored in a database, it can be more effectively managed,
controlled, and retrieved. In the most common scenario,
a user queries a database to extract the desired
information, then uses XSL middleware to transform and format it
to fit the requirements for a particular end use by a
human or non-human consumer.
Because XML represents characters in Unicode, the information
can be in any of the worlds's languages (even archaic ones),
as well as special languages such as those used in mathematics,
chemistry, and music.
This combination of features is unique to XML, which is why its
worldwide adoption is inevitable.
====================
| Nullius in Verba |
====================
Dan Emory, Dan Emory & Associates
FrameMaker/FrameMaker+SGML Document Design & Database Publishing
Voice/Fax: 949-722-8971 E-Mail: danemory -at- primenet -dot- com
10044 Adams Ave. #208, Huntington Beach, CA 92646
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