<?xml version="1.0" ?> <faq:document subject="ESPX / TinyXSL" last-update="28 December 2001" as-text="faqtxt.htm" tinyxsl="faqtxsl.htm" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/" xmlns:faq="http://www.cjandia.com/2001/espx-tinyxsl/#faq"> <faq:questn>What is this ESPX / TinyXSL stuff, actually ? <faq:answer> <p>Basically, it is a personal experiment started from a "crazy idea" of mine I had on a January 1st, 2001 lonely night: to evaluate the reliability of ECMAScript-in-the-browser on a non-trivial example, "just for fun" at that time... Now, as time goes, this aims more and more to provide the most complete reference implementation of an ECMAScript-coded pair of little tools, as is possible and practical (see <a href="#Q2">question 2</a>), for XML processing at browser-rendering-time.</p> </faq:answer> </faq:questn> <faq:questn>Then, what is your conclusion <faq:answer> <p>Since I originally started work on <a href="../library/src/espx_js.txt">ESPX</a> merely out of intellectual curiosity, while <em>not</em> being very well accustomed to ECMAScript programming issues in general, I find the current results interesting, especially for I did not devote any effort to optimization; I have rather concentrated on writing code as straightforward and portable as I could. More specifically, ESPX now intends to be fully conformant and correct towards non-validated, well-formed XML with namespaces.</p> <p>Standard XML validation (through a DTD) being totally left out from the expected use cases for ESPX, this tool is therefore more precisely described, in its current state, as [yet] <strong>a[nother] parser for an extended subset of XML</strong>. Here, that subset effectively consists only of well-formed, <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml">XML 1.0</a> standalone document entities, optionally using the <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml-names">XML namespaces</a> extension syntax. Thus the name, "ESPX - an ECMAScript Parser for <strong>(almost) XML, with namespaces</strong>".</p> <p>As far as <a href="../library/src/tinyxsl_js.txt">TinyXSL</a> is concerned, this is nothing but an attempt to mimic as much as is possible (and practical, again) the <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-xslt-19991116">XSLT</a>&apos;s functionality within the usage context of ESPX-processed small documents (&amp;lt; 30kb). Note at the time of writing (today&apos;s 20010207) this one still is in an early stage of development, though.</p> </faq:answer> and these tools&apos; status ? </faq:questn> <faq:questn>What the hell is the matter with your version numbers ? <faq:answer> <p>Nothing special, actually. ESPX + TinyXSL distributions are numbered <code><strong>P</strong>.0<strong>N</strong></code>. Where <code><strong>P</strong></code> is ESPX&apos;s version number in <em>a la ISO</em> date format (YYYYMMDD), and <code><strong>N</strong></code> represents 100 * the absolute value of TinyXSL&apos;s negative number, which started from <code><strong>-0.99</strong></code> and goes towards <code><strong>0.0</strong></code>. I just arbitrarily decided that, in any case, I shall stop work on TinyXSL when reaching its version <code><strong>0.0</strong></code>, at most - that&apos;s all.</p> <p>Thus the current ESPX + TinyXSL package, which happens to be (today&apos;s 20011205) version <code><strong>20011205.080</strong></code>.</p> <p>Note, however, as TinyXSL relies on ESPX, you have the implication: ESPX update ==> TinyXSL update, while the reverse is <em>not</em> necessarily true.</p> </faq:answer> </faq:questn> <faq:questn>Will the pace of your ESPX revisions continue as high for long ? <faq:answer> <p>I hope not. In fact, ever since XML well-formedness checking began to work, I was obsessed by the one thing: namespaces. For a rapid, true usability of ESPX, I assigned the highest priority to providing support for them - now it is achieved, ESPX should hopefully find its way in the wild... until there is sufficient user experience feedback for new features (or not).</p> <p>In the meantime anyway, I shall concentrate on code cleanup and then optimization, the latter being quite a stimulating (read: tough) subject, given the ECMAScript-related constraints.</p> <p>Any help will be very welcome : so if you want to join in the effort ...</p> </faq:answer> </faq:questn> <faq:questn>Where can I find samples for ESPX and TinyXSL ? <faq:answer> <p>For ESPX : <ul> <li><a href="../samples/simple.htm"><code>samples/simple.htm</code></a></li> </ul></p> <p>For TinyXSL : <ul> <li>this page you are reading (<a href="faqtxt.htm">source</a> and <a href="faqtxsl.htm">transform</a>)</li> </ul></p> <p>Read their respective source code.</p> </faq:answer> </faq:questn> <faq:questn>You called for help here above : how can I contribute for a better ESPX / TinyXSL ? <faq:answer> <p>Just drop me a note of your questions, suggestions, ideas for improvements at <a href="mailto:Cyril@cjandia.com">mailto:Cyril@cjandia.com</a>.</p> <p>Please note that optimization has the highest priority (<em>vs.</em> feature additions).</p> <p>If it is the first time you write me, I should answer within a couple of days, normally.</p> </faq:answer> </faq:questn> <faq:questn>How long do you expect to support ESPX and TinyXSL ? <faq:answer> <p>I just don&apos;t know, yet.</p> <p>That depends mostly, as you can guess, of my availability for them as well as the user experience feedback.</p> </faq:answer> </faq:questn> </faq:document>