Re: WWWWW Notes

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Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1993 20:32:03 +0200
From: Steve Heaney <Steve.Heaney@delft.sgp.slb.com>
Message-id: <199308131832.AA16939@mordred.delft.sgp.slb.com>
To: www-talk@nxoc01.cern.ch
Subject: Re: WWWWW Notes
Status: RO

broccol@csdsun1a.arlut.utexas.edu writes:
> 
> What might be really nice would be if the style sheets themselves could be
> formalized in some fashion, so that a document could consist of a semantic
> component (HTML, HTML+) and a presentation component (HTPL?) which would
> indicate how each (named?  semantic?) region should be presented.  
>
> A WYSIWYGBNWOMG (8-) editor could generate the two components.  If different
> HTPL's could be defined for different presentation domains (textual,
> textual/graphical,audio/verbal, virtual reality), documents could become very
> very very flexible, without losing the ability for authors to have control
> over the presentation of their baby.  nteresting new things could be done if
> these HTPL's could be referenced in a standard way by a document LINK, or by
> an attached annotation.
>

Excellent idea (really).

The US DoD as part of the CAL initiative defined a format for the coding 
of presentation information.  A document coded to this format is called a FOSI 
(Formatting Output Specification Instance).  You could have as many FOSI's 
as you want for one SGML DTD.  Exactly what you describe.  I wouldn't suggest 
adopting the FOSI standard (too heavy), but it contains some useful ideas.

> Any discussion as to how HTML+ would have to be modified to allow this kind of
> thing?  It seems that as long as you have named containers that you could do
> quite useful (and specific) things with this without losing generality.
>

Exactly what the separation of content and presentation is all about.  Don't 
me mislead when you hear SGML freaks go on about the evil of presentation 
information in a document.  Of course you need control of presentation, but 
put it in a style sheet.

> > 
> > When we talk about presentation in HTML+ we are mostly talking about tables
> > and external graphical image layout (e.g., gif's).  Someone should make
> > a list of the presentation like elements in HTML+.
> > 
> > --sanders
> > 
> 
> One test of the viability of a HTML+/HTPL solution would be if it would
> allow you to be flexible in controlling where an image would go in a page
> relative to text.  NCSA Mosaic is rather frustrating in this regard
> currently.. it would be nice to be able to center an image on a line,
> for instance, or to have text wrap around an image..
> 
> Jon
> 
> 

Steve Heaney.




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