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Archiver > GENMSC > 2007-07 > 1184730919


From: (Robert Melson)
Subject: Re: Beyond GEDCOM
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2007 03:55:19 GMT
References: <slrnf9ol6e.cvf.usenet@goodwill.larseighner.com><1184689853.767732.28500@x35g2000prf.googlegroups.com><2h6ni.9164$zA4.5373@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net><slrnf9pttu.fnh.usenet@goodwill.larseighner.com><2t7ni.8570$Od7.2064@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net><9Kdni.12915$LH5.785@trnddc02><9Beni.9298$zA4.985@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net><iuvq93105be5ochbsi73dh7u0rforplirg@4ax.com>


In article <>,
Denis Beauregard <> writes:
> On Wed, 18 Jul 2007 02:07:01 GMT, (Robert
> Melson) wrote in soc.genealogy.computing:
>
>>As I understand it, though, XML permits you to add/delete
>>entities locally while still preserving the "universal"
>>entities defined elsewhere. If that's true, then you
>>should be able to add a "hippie marriage" entity in your
>>local DTD that would satisfy your requirements.
>
> From a structural point of view, where is the difference
> with GEDCOM ?
>
>
> Denis
>

I'm not sure I can answer that question. Anything I think I
know about XML comes from the O'Reilly "XML in a Nutshell"
and is rusty as hell. (Hmmm, now I think of it, though, both
V5.X and V6 are GEDCOM - the realization is different from one
to the other, though.)

I think the major difference between 5 and 6, however, is not in
the representation but in the entities included and how they're
defined. I haven't really looked at the BNF definitions of
the GED language, so I can't really tell you specifically how
the two versions differ.

The advantage of XML, though, as I understand it, is that there can
be a centrally defined stylesheet which can be imported into the
local environment and modified locally without affecting the base
stylesheet. You could even, if I remember correctly, have multiple
stylesheets - the base, a vendor version, an o/s specific version,
one for your company and your personal version. In terms of the
GED standard, you might have the central "standard" maintained at
and by the LDS, a FTM version maintained by the vendor, and a
local version you maintain yourself to fix problems you see in
the other two.

If there's anybody here who understands this, I'd love to see/hear
what you have to say about the GED V.6 beta standard and what it
will mean for us mere hackers.

Bob Melson

--
Robert G. Melson | Rio Grande MicroSolutions | El Paso, Texas
-----
"People unfit for freedom---who cannot do much with it---are
hungry for power." ---Eric Hoffer

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