[Zope3-dev] ZCML alternative

[Shane Hathaway]

On Wed, 5 Jun 2002, Phillip J. Eby wrote:

> At 05:46 PM 6/4/02 -0400, Shane Hathaway wrote:
>
> ><permission id="Zope.Manage">Manage Contacts</permission>
> >
> ><content class="Zope.Contact.">
> >  <require permission="Zope.View">
> >   <attribute>name</attribute>
> >   <attribute>first</attribute>
> >   <attribute>last</attribute>
> >   <attribute>email</attribute>
> >   <attribute>address</attribute>
> >   <attribute>postal_code</attribute>
> >  </require>
> >  <require permission="Zope.Manage">
> >   <zmi-factory id="Zope.Contact">
> >    <title>Contact</title>
> >   </zmi-factory>
> >  </require>
> ></content>
>
> -10.  <shudder>.   I absolutely cannot *stand* this kind of XML.  I hate it
> with a virulent, albeit irrational, passion.  (Probably due to having to
> write code to process XMI 1.0, which only supports this sort of thing; XMI
> 1.1 can use attributes the way God intended them to be.)

It does indeed seem irrational. :-)  When I read XML like that, I can see
the overall structure and intent almost subconsciously.  By the time I
read the words I already have some understanding.

Namespaces add visual distortion.  Putting everything in attributes breaks
the structure.  Consequently, ZCML currently has to be read one line at a
time with lots of interruptions.

People used to appreciate hand-coded HTML. :-)

> While I could maybe believe that site admins can't deal with XML
> namespaces, I really don't believe that they can't handle attributes.  HTML
> is full of attributes!
>
> To be honest, I'm pretty puzzled by this idea that the kind of formatting
> above is "conventional XML", because every time I see that style, I *cringe*.

You're a creative, intelligent, non-conventional individual. ;-)

Shane