Re: [uiml] Summary of issues raised by Takashi Endo and suggested UIML 4.0 changes

["Jim Helms" <jhelms@gmail.com>]

Robbie,

Yes, go ahead and update that version.  I have a version I am working,
but I have not touched the variable section so it should be easy to
merge.

Thank you!
Jim

On 12/4/07, Robbie Schaefer <robbie@c-lab.de> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> > That is a good point.  I like the way DISL handles this, but we have
> > two considerations: 1) UIML sets a precedent with the <property>
> > element that establishes "name" as the way to reference an existing id
> > without conflicting; and 2) the additional reference attribute still
> > leaves us with the issue of having conflicting id's.  The DISL
> > approach is very good for readability, but I think the problem Mr.
> > Endo had was related to limitations of the DOM specification that only
> > allows you to look up single elements by id.
>
> OK, now I got it :-)
> I could update the relevant parts WRT variables (Section 6.9 and the DTD).
> Do I have the most current version? (uiml-core-4.0-draft_RS021007.doc)
>
> All the best,
> Robbie.
> --
>   _/ Dr. Robbie Schaefer        _/ Phone: +49 5251 60-6107  _/
>  _/ Visual Interactive Systems _/ Fax: +49 5251 60-6065    _/
>  _/ C-LAB Fuerstenallee 11     _/                          _/
> _/ D-33102 Paderborn          _/ URL: http://www.c-lab.de _/
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jim Helms" <jhelms@gmail.com>
> To: "Robbie Schaefer" <robbie@c-lab.de>
> Cc: <uiml@lists.oasis-open.org>
> Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 3:38 PM
> Subject: Re: [uiml] Summary of issues raised by Takashi Endo and suggested
> UIML 4.0 changes
>
>
> > Robbie, thanks for you input!  Additional comments below.
> >
> > On 12/3/07, Robbie Schaefer <robbie@c-lab.de> wrote:
> >> > Suggested change: add an attribute to <variable> called "id-ref" that
> >> > is used to reference a variable after it is declared.
> >>
> >> We had thought of this when designing DISL and the current sulution in
> >> the
> >> UIML-DTD is that we have an additional attribute for the variable which
> >> specifies wether it is used as a declaration or as a reference: reference
> >> (true|false) "true".
> >>
> >> However if all agree that id-ref is the more proper/consitent solution
> >> (since it is used in other UIML-elements in the same fashion) I could go
> >> through the relevant parts in the spec and change the examples and
> >> explanations.
> >>
> >> The point in favor of the "reference"-Attribute is that it is implicitly
> >> set
> >> true, so that only once, for the declaration, a variable needs to state
> >> the
> >> reference attribute, which IMHO adds to the readability of the
> >> UIML-document.
> >>
> >> Anyway, I am open to both options.
> >
> > That is a good point.  I like the way DISL handles this, but we have
> > two considerations: 1) UIML sets a precedent with the <property>
> > element that establishes "name" as the way to reference an existing id
> > without conflicting; and 2) the additional reference attribute still
> > leaves us with the issue of having conflicting id's.  The DISL
> > approach is very good for readability, but I think the problem Mr.
> > Endo had was related to limitations of the DOM specification that only
> > allows you to look up single elements by id.  One way to solve this
> > and use the DISL scheme would be to use a different attribute as the
> > name of the variable and have an id attribute that's sole purpose is
> > to uniquely identify the element within the document.
> >
> > Whatever we decide, I believe we should choose a consistent scheme to
> > handle this for <property>, <variable>, and <param>.  Thus using id in
> > the declaration and name for the references may serve for this version
> > of the specification with further improvements to come in the next
> > version.
> >
> > Just my thoughts :)
> > Jim
>
>