Dexter path syntax

[smantscheff]

This looks like a very promising tool, thank you very much, and I look
forward to a namespace-enabled version. But it is really necessary to
define your own path and attribute markers. The manul reads:

> Dexter paths are based on a modified data-path notation similar to XPath but, in the authors opinion, not quite as ugly and a little more intuitive. Attributes, specified in XPath by '@', are indicated with ':'. in dexterity. The '@' operator is instead adopted by dexterity to introduce the path function suffix. The variable-depth path, notated in XPath as './/', dexter adopts the ant-inspired '**' instead.

I find this confusing. Am I the only one?
s.m.

[Michael Dykman]

I see where that might be confusing.. perhaps a future version might
allow XSL paths to pass through - as it is, I have some different
ideas about the general usage of some of those operators... several
have already been reassigned to other jobs. (note '@' in particular
I have never thought the XPath was especially intuitive (I know that's
a comment which isn't going to make me any friends).

Having said that, there is little about Dexter which is carved in
stone: it's designed to be flexible.. I will look into how much
trouble it would be to provide a 'native' mode which will allow XPath
syntax in those areas.

One of my (very loose) inspirations for this project is the 'J'
programming language (www.jsoftware.com) which emphasises conciseness
and has even more peculiar ideas about the meaning of operators..

I think the the namespace issue takes higher precidence though..

- michael dykman

--
- michael dykman
- mdy...@gmail.com

- All models are wrong. Some models are useful.