Re: Associating DSSSL style sheets with documents

Norbert H. Mikula (nmikula@edu.uni-klu.ac.at)
Thu, 06 Mar 1997 08:15:09 -0800

Jon Bosak wrote:
> One possible method suggested by James Clark (thank you, James) is to
> adopt the convention used by Jade in the absence of the -d option:
> replace the extension of the document entity's URL or file name with
> .dsl and fetch that. Thus, if a browser fetches
>
> http://docs.sun.com/foo/bar.html
>
> then it should also look for
>
> http://docs.sun.com/foo/bar.dsl
>
> and apply it to bar.html if found.

That is the way I have been doing it with my Cappuccino/Yade/PSC_EDB
system.

My NXP/Yade/PSC_EDB system, at least for now, will also do it like this.

If you have only a few document instances it works fine. If you have
hundrets
of them you probably will get into troubles (for the reason already
pointed out by others)

> James lists some other possibilities:
>
> | - a processing instruction somewhere in the prolog

I think, at least for XML, we don't want to use PIs too often.

> | - a catalog entry that says unconditionally to use some DSSSL style
> | sheet

Maybe as a fallbak if other asscociation mechanisms failed....

> | - a catalog entry that associates a DSSSL style sheet with the public
> | identifier of a DTD

Hmm, I think I would like that.

> | - make the document serve also as a style sheet by making it conform
> | to the DSSSL architecture (this will work with Jade too)

Do I understand correct that you want to include the style into the
actual document instance ? Would work of course, but I guess only
if we assume that DSSSL is the only style-spec. mechanism.
Of course I would support that ;-) No, to be serious, I think
we should separate style and instance as much as we can.

------

I do also think the idea with the mime header is worth a try.

-- 
Best regards,
Norbert H. Mikula

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