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Re: Practicality of Separating Data from Presentation


I've read all the messages on this thread, and unless I'm missing something
important, I think you are going about this "bass-ackwards".

I worked for three years on a project. We moved from a series of MS Access-based
applications to an IIS, IE, SQL Server model. At first I worked with
ASP exactly as is illustrated in all the ASP books you'll find. Eventually
I developed a model where I used ASP to use ADO to query the database.
I wrote stored procedures which returned well-formed XML (no DTDs or
schema since these were task-specific strings wholly under my control).
I built separate CSS style sheets, and JavaScript files to use in the
pages. Then I used the Microsoft XML parser (and XSLT transformation
processor) to output the page to the browser.

On inbound data (forms) I used JavaScript to build well-formed XML strings
which were returned in hidden inputs. I used ASP to create the appropriate
COM objects (MSXML, ADO) and parsed the data from the strings and updated
the database.

Yes, I used ASP, but it was very clean. That is to say, it didn't have
HTML tags interspersed with <% some VBS code here %> type tags.

I was just getting started in web development, MS SQL Server and XML.
Since then I've seen more elegant and well-engineered approaches to system
design, but for the level of sophistication I had when I started, my
design worked fairly well.

I see no reason that you couldn't build a COM/ASP version of Apache's
Cocoon. I really admire the thoughtfulness and elegance of their design,
but if I were constrained to use ASP, there is nothing in ASP that would
constrain me from building a system like Cocoon.

-- 
Charles Knell
cknell@onebox.com - email


---- intelikon@email.com wrote:
> After reading Jeni Tennison's book 'XSLT & XPath On the Edge' I was
> most interested in Part III of the book.  I understood the concepts
> presented (reusing XML snippets, page templates, multiple stylesheets,
> etc.) but what I am vexed about is the 'placement' of ASP code - ASP
> conditionals , etc.  I came across an article on XML.com : http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/03/27/templatexslt.html
> - which in the third paragraph, the author says XSLT "fails miserably
> at separating these two layers (data & presentation)."  My question
> is, does the use of ASP bring conflict to the framework of using XML
> & XSLT to separate data from presentation?  And specifically do you
> see or practice the placement of ASP in the backend (in XML) or in
> the middle (in XSL/XSLT) or in the front (before the presentation)?
>  
> 
> Tim Germer
> Intel
> Reply to - tim.g.germer@intel.com
> 
> -- 
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