This is the mail archive of the docbook-apps@lists.oasis-open.org mailing list .


Index Nav: [Date Index] [Subject Index] [Author Index] [Thread Index]
Message Nav: [Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next]
Other format: [Raw text]

Re: questions about XML catalogs?


On Sat, 2 Nov 2002, Mark Johnson wrote:

> On Saturday, November 2, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> > 
> >   if one has queries about XML catalogs, where's the best
> > place to ask?

> Since I suspect you're interested in the RedHat implementation, Daniel
> Veillard is their defacto resident xml catalog policy wonk. (He also
> is on this mailing list, so I suspect he'll weigh in shortly.)

no, this isn't red hat-specific, and since i'm about to head out
to the gym, i'll toss this out and claw my way through the
enlightening responses when i get back.

i'm reading the doc on XML catalogs at OASIS, and the terminology
is just a tad confusing.

first, what's a "catalog"?  according to the doc, it's a *logical*
structure that contains mapping information.  IOW, it's just a 
hypothetical structure of some kind, not necessarily a file or
collection of files, but it could consist of multiple files.
or it could be a database of some kind.  or whatever.
so far, so good?

a "catalog entry file", OTOH, is a physical document that contains
a set of catalog entries.  and if you look in a catalog entry file,
apparently, the root element must be a <catalog> entry.  it seems
that this is an unfortunate element name, since the contents
of a catalog entry file are, technically, not a catalog.
it seems just a bit recursive.

further, we read that catalog entries can be of type delegatePublic,
delegateSystem and so on, as well as "catalog", even though all
of the other entries (as i read it) must occur within a catalog
element.  so is a <catalog> itself a catalog entry type?

(side question:  does the file /etc/xml/catalog, by itself, represent
a catalog, or just a catalog entry file?  yes, i'm being incredibly
nitpicky.)

and i read that the "nextCatalog" entry does not seem to refer to
another catalog, but another catalog entry file, which has been
clearly defined by now to not mean the same thing.

anyway, i hope you get the idea.  i was just skimming that document
and was just getting more and more puzzled by the terminology.
can anyone clarify this?  or am i making too much of this?

rday




Index Nav: [Date Index] [Subject Index] [Author Index] [Thread Index]
Message Nav: [Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next]