micah-dubinko

XiX: Details about XForms in XQuery

Submitted by administrator on Tue, 11/04/2008 - 07:05.

I was asked offline for more details about what I have in mind around XiX.
Take a simple piece of XML, like this: <root><a>3</a><b>4</b><total/></root>.
An XForms Model can be applied, in an out-of-line fashion, to that instance. This is done through a bind element, with XPath to identify the nodes in question, plus other “model item properties” [...]

XiX (XForms in XQuery)

Submitted by administrator on Thu, 10/30/2008 - 22:07.

I’m pondering implementing the computational parts of the XForms Model in XQuery. Doing so in a largely functional environment poses some challenges, though. Has anybody tackled this before? How about in any functional language, including ML, Haskell, Scheme, XSLT, or careful Python?
I borrowed the book Purely Functional Data Structures from a friend–this looks to be [...]

More mobile XForms goodness

Submitted by administrator on Fri, 10/10/2008 - 22:02.

I haven’t tried this, but these guys claim to have a solution where
The form definitions are saved and exchanged as XForms, and the data as XForm[s] models. The data can be exchanged over http (if the phone users can afford GPRS and have a data connection) or over compressed SMS messages.
Sounds like they have the [...]

XForms spambots on the loose

Submitted by administrator on Fri, 10/03/2008 - 01:14.

A determined spambot has been submitting the XForms contact form on XForms Institute. OK, so it’s probably more Flash-aware than XForms-aware, but still. -m

XRX

Submitted by administrator on Thu, 05/29/2008 - 22:09.

Bumped into XRX today. XForms + REST + XQuery. I like the sound of this, and XForms on the client just got a whole bunch easier…
I’m seeing multiple signs that the confluence of XForms and XQuery has legs. (And REST just plain makes sense in any situation). -m

XForms Validator on Google App Engine?

Submitted by administrator on Thu, 05/29/2008 - 03:58.

I registered ‘xfv’ on Google App Engine. Too bad there doesn’t appear to be any significant XML libraries supported. I have XPath covered by my pure-python WebPath, but what about Relax NG? Anyone know of anything in pure python? -m

XForms Ubiquity

Submitted by administrator on Fri, 05/23/2008 - 05:02.

I just found out about a nice little XForms engine called Ubiquity. (Having dinner with Mark Birbeck, TV Raman, and Leigh Klotz certainly helps one find out about such things) :-)
It’s a JavaScript implementation done right. Open source under the Apache 2.0 license. Seems like a nice fit with, oh maybe MarkLogic Server? -m

XQuery Annoyances…

Submitted by administrator on Thu, 05/22/2008 - 05:06.

If you are used to XSLT 1.0 and XForms, you see { $book/bk:title } and think nothing of it. XSLT 1.0 calls the curly-brace construct an Attribute Value Template, which is pretty descriptive of where it’s used. Always in an attribute, always converted into a string, even if you are actually pointing to an element.
In [...]

US Census == paper technology

Submitted by administrator on Thu, 04/03/2008 - 18:34.

Never let anyone say that forms are easy. What seems like a boring, tedious topic on the surface is surprisingly deep and challenging. As evidence, the multi-billion-dollar plan to modernize the US census in 2010 has fallen back to paper technology. Sadly their plans didn’t involve XForms.
Highly-critical applications, like say voting, are even more difficult [...]

Yahoo! introduces mobile XForms

Submitted by administrator on Tue, 01/08/2008 - 03:15.

Admittedly, their marketing folks wouldn’t describe it that way, but essentially that’s what was announced today. (documentation in PDF format, closely related to what-used-to-be Konfabulator tech; here’s the interesting part in HTML) The press release talks about reaching “billions” of mobile consumers; even if you don’t put too much emphasis on press releases (you shouldn’t) [...]

XML 2007 buzz: XForms 1.1

Submitted by administrator on Fri, 12/21/2007 - 18:01.

One whole evening of the program was devoted to XForms, focused around the new 1.1 Candidate Recommendation. I admit that some of the early 1.1 drafts gave me pause, but these guys did a good job cleaning up some of the dim corners and adding the right features in the right places. This is worth [...]

XForms evening at XML 2007

Submitted by administrator on Mon, 10/15/2007 - 15:47.

Depending on who’s asking and who’s answering, W3C technologies take 5 to 10 years to get a strong foothold. Well, we’re now in the home stretch for the 5th anniversary of XForms Essentials, which was published in 2003. In past conferences, XForms coverage has been maybe a low-key tutorial, a few day sessions, and hallway [...]

simple parsing of space-seprated attributes in XPath/XSLT

Submitted by administrator on Tue, 10/02/2007 - 03:29.

It’s a common need to parse space-separated attribute values from XPath/XSLT 1.0, usually @class or @rel. One common (but incorrect) technique is simple equality test, as in {@class=”vcard”}. This is wrong, since the value can still match and still have other literal values, like “foo vcard” or “vcard foo” or ” foo vcard bar “.
The [...]

XForms Editors?

Submitted by administrator on Thu, 09/27/2007 - 15:50.

What are some good tools, with a strong preference for open source, for editing XForms these days? Comment below… -m

Steven Pemberton and Michael(tm) Smith on (X)HTML, XForms, mobile, etc.

Submitted by administrator on Sat, 09/08/2007 - 22:33.

Video from XTech, worth a look. -m

Time to update the XForms Validator (XFV)?

Submitted by administrator on Sat, 09/08/2007 - 06:20.

In the last couple of days, I’ve had three completely separate instances of people freshly interested in XForms coming to ask me about Stuff.
A declarative model is pretty much irresistible compared to the alternatives. But nobody can directly use an abstract declarative sculpture–sombody needs to put some solid vocabulary and processing meat on the skeleton. [...]