From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,MAILING_LIST_MULTI, REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,a26758eec3c2e1ad X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2002-06-05 07:42:03 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!fr.usenet-edu.net!usenet-edu.net!enst!enst.fr!not-for-mail From: "Robert C. Leif" Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: RE: Use of XML for config files Date: Wed, 5 Jun 2002 07:41:32 -0700 Organization: ENST, France Sender: comp.lang.ada-admin@ada.eu.org Message-ID: Reply-To: comp.lang.ada@ada.eu.org NNTP-Posting-Host: marvin.enst.fr Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: avanie.enst.fr 1023288122 59996 137.194.161.2 (5 Jun 2002 14:42:02 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@enst.fr NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 5 Jun 2002 14:42:02 +0000 (UTC) Return-Path: X-Envelope-From: rleif@rleif.com X-Envelope-To: X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook, Build 10.0.3416 Importance: Normal In-Reply-To: <3CFDBB4D.29DAADEF@cs.tu-berlin.de> X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000 Errors-To: comp.lang.ada-admin@ada.eu.org X-BeenThere: comp.lang.ada@ada.eu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.8 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: comp.lang.ada mail<->news gateway List-Unsubscribe: , Errors-To: comp.lang.ada-admin@ada.eu.org X-BeenThere: comp.lang.ada@ada.eu.org Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:25360 Date: 2002-06-05T07:41:32-07:00 From: Bob Leif To: Volkert Barr et al. Following standard Ada practice, one should declare all the types for the elements and, if one uses them, attributes. The best way to do this is to create both an XML schema and an Ada package specification. The data types and ranges of the two documents should be identical. The combination of validating the schema and compiling the specification is equivalent to man whose hazard analysis leads him to wear both a belt and suspenders (I believe braces in the UK). The first step is to decide on the data types. For the convenience of all this can be done in Ada. The second step is to determine if they should be expressed as XML elements or attributes. XMLSpy or similar tool can be employed to both create the schema and generate a preliminary XML document. -----Original Message----- From: comp.lang.ada-admin@ada.eu.org [mailto:comp.lang.ada-admin@ada.eu.org] On Behalf Of Volkert Barr Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2002 12:19 AM To: comp.lang.ada@ada.eu.org Subject: Re: Use of XML for config files > What that means is that if we were to use XML, we should support both > user-defined configuration item attributes and some kind of object > nesting (configuration items defined within other configuration > items). I haven't really heard anyone seriously arguing the usefulness > of this stuff. > > If we are to stick with simple attribute-value pairs, then XML would > be major overkill. I have set up a first small datamodel for hierarchical configuration data (nested Config_Items containing lists of (Key,Value)-Tupels) and defined a BNF-Grammar for text (file) representation of this data. I hope Stephan Leake will add it to his "Config-Proposal Page"! The grammes defines the following style: -- -- Comment Block -- Config_Item1.Key := Value -- Comment Config_Item1.Inner_Config_Item2.Key := Value The same can be done in XML, but the next you need is an "XML Editor" ;-) (That is one reason, why there is so much Business (and money) around XML.) XML-like Configuration: Key Value Key Value Volkert