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Journal for CA277-XML
Entry for Assignment P2
I am not sure the decided on categories were correct. I think the student category should have had an ID=# attribute. It makes it easier
to add data when an ID is included. If the class had been larger
it would have been harder to keep track of the students. I also think
that one of the attributes for grades either average or letter should have been
it's own data instead of an attribute. As an attribute it makes it
hard to do anything with it.
I can see how it is difficult for the W3C to come up with exact schemas for
specific data. Everyone has an opinion and everyone is correct. I
think this assignment would be better done in reverse, as we did with the business
cards. Come up with your own schema and then discuss it in class. Then
the assignment becomes a little more challenging.
Entry for Assignment P3
This was a small glimpse into the power of style
sheets and they can be truly amazing. It was fun trying out all the different
possibilities and browsing the file to see their effect. I
especially liked the magic of changing the size of the text.
How cool was that!!
The only downside to using CSS with xml
is the inability to show off attributes. As explained in class
only Netscape 6 recognizes attributes. This has been the reoccurring
problem with browsers and what they recognize even when the W3C has set
a standard. Some browsers recognize CSS1 some CSS2 unfortunately
keeping track of what they all do or do not becomes frustrating. Basically,
what this means to you or I, is someone out there does not get to see
what you create.
Entry for Assignment P4
I can't believe I finished this assignment!! I
know I made it harder than what was required, but I felt I needed to do
a little extra. The hardest part was figuring out how to use
SAXON. At first I thought it did not work in XP but I found
out this evening, that it works just fine. The key to success
is knowing how to change directories. As long as you change
the directories correctly, the program works.
In XP you need to use the command prompt. There
is no more MS DOS prompt and it is found under Accessories. Also
there are no short versions of files any longer, you just type in the
file name as you see it when you call up the directory. I liked
using a CSS link instead of placing all of the changes in the body tag,
that worked best for me. Now that I have the time, I will probably
practice a bit more so the next assignment will be a breeze. Just,
kidding!!
Entry for Assignment P5
I actually liked using xslt. I understand
what I am doing and understand the process. Once you figure out where
the context node is, you are home free. It helps to understand how to
implement templates and use them to your advantage. Fortunately, XP has
been cooperative on my home computer and SAXON is still running successfully.
I can see the power in x-path and xslt
and the purpose. The part I somewhat do not get is, how do you maintain
uniqueness from one xml file to the next. I know you can pick whatever
names you like, but what happens when you want to combine html and xml
files within the same file? If you use the tag <title> instead of
<salutation>, how does the xml parser delineate between the html
tag <title> and the xml tag <title>, or maybe it can't. I
am sure someone figured this out and it is somewhere in this book or on
the W3C site. Questions to ponder over break or read-up on.
Entry for Assignment P6
This was interesting and XHTML does not seem
to be difficult to use. I think it is good practice to make sure the documents
are well-formed and everything has a start and end tag. Just a good habit
to get into, for consistancy purposes.
Fortunately my resume was already developed
and ready to use. I now have heard work experience is number
one and education goes last, unless your education is thus that it is
critical to your experience. After a 6 month hiatus it appears
that there are a significant amount of web design jobs in the Washington
post. Timing for a resume could not be better.
Entry for Assignment P7
This looked a lot easier than it was and
I am still not sure it is totally correct. I think the confusion
comes in to whether or not I added the * or the + signs in the right place.
I know what I meant, but everytime I tried to put the data in the way
it seemed like it should work, I got an error and tried working it out
until it was correct and there was no error message.
I can't wait to see how it is really supposed
to be done, or maybe there is no absolute method. The other
confusion also comes in with the duplication of data. I understand you
use the code #PCDATA or CDATA but, do you use the actual data the first
time then the #PCDATA the 2nd? I still don't get this.
Entry for Assignment P8
This assignment was alot harder than it
appeared. I thought at first you could just move everything around,NOT! The
other hard thing to do was finding the style sheet to post with the xml
valid file. I am still a little hazy on what truly is the correct way
to do the element "name". My schema was valid. Phone was also
a question in my mind as well as the the 2 genders. I thought I understood
this! This class is very challenging.
Entry for Assignment P9
This assignment was very interesting. It
made perfectly good sense. The W3C rules for extended files and xlinks
do not make alot of sense in regards to not being able to modify files. My
guess is there will probably be a specific declaration that all files
will have to have and somehow that will be sufficient.
I am concerned about the ease that people
would be able to pull data from a site and I wonder if this is something
being considered? I would think that it could possibly be a
security hazard and depending on the declaration or password it would
allow access? I wonder if the security aspect was considered when they
thought about doing this, although you would think that would be always
a consideration?
Entry for Assignment P10
I loved this assignment. It was really
fun. I was able to figure out where to place the coordinates, although
that was truly the hard part of the assignment. I had to guess what they
were. Once I contemplated what I wanted to do, I just had to think in
terms of which layer would be first and how to create the pillar look.
Even though I completed this, I may consider some revisions before the
due date. I guess it will depend on the time I have to spend on my other
assignments this week.
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