[XML-SIG] ANN: SLiP and SLIDE - a quick XML shorthand syntax and tool for editing

[Matt Gushee]

On Sun, Apr 07, 2002 at 07:57:59PM -0600, Uche Ogbuji wrote:

> > Still too heavy for prose composition, IMNSHO. I've been working on a 
> > *really* simple alternative intended mainly for writing documentation;
> > alpha implementation should be out in a couple of days.
> 
> For writing strictly documentation, there is already structured text NG.  

Yes, I looked at it and every other structured text format I could easily
find on the Web before deciding to create my own ... well, I'm not sure
create is the right word: it's a variation on XMLMind's APT format, which
is quite similar to Structured Text NG. I removed features that a) encourage
people to think of the structured text document as an end product, such as
bold and italic tags, or b) tend to impede the writing process, such as
the requirement to number every item of an ordered list (makes it hard to
delete or insert elements in the middle). I also added a feature or two.
For anyone who's interested, there will be a full explanation soon. 

> These projects are more general.

Okay, good point. Though I'm not sure I understand the need for shorthand
when creating "documents" that consist mainly of data fields or the like
-- they're not very easy to read in any case, and any editor worth its
salt either provides shortcuts for typing XML or can be programmed to 
do so. 

> For example, can I edit RDF/XML in your format?

You could do it as a three-column table, and feed the processor a mapping
to the RDF/XML structures. But you've got a good point there: it's really
not designed for that sort of thing.

-- 
Matt Gushee
Englewood, Colorado, USA
mgushee@havenrock.com
http://www.havenrock.com/