[Zope] Re: XSL and DTML was: a funny thing happened today...

[Paul Prescod]

I don't think it is fair to compare the complexity of the code used
here:

http://www.zope.org:18200/Members/srichter

with the average XSLT transformation. XSLT is specifically designed to
handle recursive, heterogenous document types. These document types are
the norm in real-world Web publishing.

I think that XSL is what DTML would become if it was evolved toward the
problem of rendering real-world XML. The fundamental question is how do
you extend a template structure so that it is recursive and polymorphic.
Consider this model:

DOCUMENT -> TITLE, SECTION+
SECTION -> TITLE, (P|LIST)+, SECTION+

So in the rule for section you need to process the title. And then the
paragraphs and lists (in the order that they arrive) and then start the
process over again for SECTION. TITLE must be handled differently in the
DOCUMENT and SECTION contexts, and differently depending on how many
levels of SECTION down it was.

This sort of thing is where XSLT excels. It would be useful if someone
could outline a Zope/DTML solution to this problem.

 Paul Prescod