Adding a new type of PI or comment to the XML/XHTML DTD

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  • sbwoodside
    #1

    Adding a new type of PI or comment to the XML/XHTML DTD

    Hi there. I'm writing code in eRuby (aka ERB) which is basically XHTML
    + ruby code contained inside <% these kind of %blocks. My editor
    uses an XML parser which doesn't recognize these blocks and complains
    about them. (oXygen/Xerces).

    I spent a couple of hours looking at the DTDs to see how they
    implement the existing processing instruction and comments blocks. But
    I can't find it in there. The best I found was:

    xhtml/dtd/xhtml1.dcl: PIC "?>"

    Looks like it could mean "Processing Instruction Close"?

    Anyway, is there even a way to modify the DTDs to allow the eRuby
    block or would I have to edit the source code of Xerces?

    --simon

    PS I think that if eRuby had used <?ruby ?things would be a lot
    easier .....
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    • Joseph Kesselman
      #2
      Re: Adding a new type of PI or comment to the XML/XHTML DTD

      sbwoodside wrote:
      Hi there. I'm writing code in eRuby (aka ERB) which is basically XHTML
      + ruby code contained inside <% these kind of %blocks. My editor
      uses an XML parser which doesn't recognize these blocks and complains
      about them. (oXygen/Xerces).
      That's correct. The <%%markup is simply not compatable with a normal
      XML parser. It must be handled by a preprocessor of some kind, or by a
      nonstandard parser specifically modified to handle it. You *may* be able
      to process it using SGML tools rather than XML tools; I'm not sure about
      that.
      Anyway, is there even a way to modify the DTDs to allow the eRuby
      block or would I have to edit the source code of Xerces?
      No, there isn't. See above.
      PS I think that if eRuby had used <?ruby ?things would be a lot
      easier .....
      Absolutely. Or, perhaps better, use real XML elements in a namespace
      reserved for this scripting markup.

      If you're working with an XML-based language such as XHTML, there really
      is no excuse these days for introducing non-XML-compatable syntax. Note
      that Java Server pages, which seems to be where the <%%syntax comes
      from, eventually introduced an XML-compatable alternative. The eRuby
      folks should be ***STRONGLY*** pressured to do likewise.

      --
      Joe Kesselman / Beware the fury of a patient man. -- John Dryden

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