RE: iCalendar as an XML DTD

[Dan Hickman <dhickman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark,

You state that we could and should make XML grammar optional.
Why?  What are the reasons why it should be allowed and do they outweigh 
the reasons we should not!  Why do we want to make things harder for 
ourselves than they already are?  I'm just looking for some specific 
reasoning.

Thanks,
Dan Hickman
Rockin' Software
dhickman@rockinsoftware.com
http://www.rockinsoftware.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark Baker [mailto:distobj@acm.org]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 1998 3:22 PM
> To: Dan Hickman; 'Paul Fonte'; Chris Newman
> Cc: IETF calsch WG
> Subject: RE: iCalendar as an XML DTD
>
>
> At 03:00 PM 15/4/98 -0500, Dan Hickman wrote:
> >We DEFINITELY DO NOT want to have multiple grammars for any
> standard.  You
> >would be unnecessarily creating two standards that developers must
> >implement.
>
> We could and should make the XML based grammar optional,
> since we clearly
> can't ignore the legacy format.  But at the same time, we've
> got to move
> forward and embrace the standard self-describing format that
> didn't exist
> when CALSCH got started.
>
> Would Frank like to comment on this?  <nudge nudge>
>
> >I, for one, couldn't tell you the first thing about why XML
> wouldn't be
> >good for iCalendar.  Actually, when I first looked at XML, I
> thought it
> >would be a good idea to use something like it since there
> are parsers
> >already available for it.  I think the main argument against XML for
> >iCalendar is that the iCalendar standard is already finished
> and is built
> >on a proven grammar that is fairly compatible with the first
> version of
> >iCalendar (vCalendar).  It is too late to change it.
> Please, lets get this
> >standard out so we can actually start using it!!
>
> Agreed, but that shouldn't so much (IMHO) be considered an "argument
> against XML", as it should be considered a challenge to find room for
> coexistance.
>
> Straw poll.  Who here *wouldn't* like to be able to present
> and interact
> with calendars via style sheets in a browser?
>
> MB
>