Blogonaut

alexadler blog: Dummies Book Chapter 1

Link: alexadler blog: Dummies Book Chapter 1.

At first I thought that it would be workable for me to just look at the lecture notes to understand all background ideas about XML, but it turns out to be unsuccessful (maybe I was not paying enough attention in class :P). Therefore, for those of you who are still in the middle of nowhere and confuse about what we are actually do, redo chapter 1 is probably a good choice.

This observation does not surprise me.  It's one of the reasons I put the Dummies book so prominently in the course.  You really need to work through the material to get it.  I had read many XSLT books and done things on my own.  It was not until I worked through the artificial examples in the Dummies book that I began to really get it.

thecrew: more questions for project 2

Link: thecrew: more questions for project 2.

We have successfully converted all five views into xsql. I assume the next step is to convert these xsql to html through xslt. So in order to view these results, we have to first come up with sql. These steps seem to be really long and hard for the organization to use in the future. Is there a simpler way of creating sql and displaying it on the web? Like some sort of command that would automatically place sql script into the right xsql file and the corresponding xslt file.

Yes, it is a hard slog for the organization to design things.  Note, once you get this process up and running, the workflow is as follows:

1. Organization accesses XSQL file over the Internet using a web interface.
2. Oracle processes the XSQL file and sends back XML.
3. The XML is converted on the fly (without any human intervention) by XSLT to HTML.
4. Organization reads HTML in web browser.

So, yes there is a lot of work in figuring out what the queries are and setting them up.  Once the queries are set up, you are set to go.

frankcc: question regrading style sheet

Link: frankcc: question regrading style sheet.

but how do you define the area where you want to stop applying the external stylesheet?  is it possible to import two different stylesheets into different parts of the the current stylesheet?  if so what's the command?

There are ways to control when external stylesheet rules are applied, but they are clunky.  Are you having a specific issue?  I find this sort of issue is best addressed according to specifics.

55699: another minor technicality

Link: 55699: another minor technicality.

We were also just noticed another problem with the date format. In the HTML version of the query results, the date is displayed along with a "0.0.0"

An odd little feature of the Oracle date format is that it displays a default time with the date; the 0.0.0 you are seeing.  My experience with this is that it is not always apparent in the XML you see outputted.  We should probably meet regarding your various issues and resolve them.

55699: problem with having column header

Link: 55699: problem with having column header.

In our raw code, we wanted to display a certain column with a certain name. However in the html, the column header shows up as blank. It works in SQL and XML, but it doesn't show up in html.

This sounds like an XSLT issue.  It is hard to answer generically, but it sounds like your XSLT code for selecting the XML element is not succeeding. My advice is to be as specific as possible.  What is the specific code you expect to work?  What is the specific XML you expect it to work on.

computers: re-use of templates

Link: computers: re-use of templates.

I looked in XSQL2 notes and I am still a little unsure as to what this means.  Is this something we have not entirely learned yet?

You should be able to reuse the method we used in XSQL2 to create a table for your results.  Most likely, you just have to change one word in customerHTML.xsl.

bskool bloggin: Blogonaut: RissRoss: The Dream Team

Link: bskool bloggin: Blogonaut: RissRoss: The Dream Team.

are we going to be using any other namespaces than the one to define and XSL document? There seems to be a little section of each chapter (at least 4 and 5) describing the commands used to interact with namespaces in the XML documents.

Well, we are also using the XSQL namespace in xsql documents.  You will not have to do any namespace processing in XSLT.  I did not go into depth on this because I do not expect we will use it.

bskool bloggin: comments on a conversation

Link: bskool bloggin: Blogonaut: Hail to the Victors: Blogs as the catalyst for promoting bottom-up change.

the communication technique should be used laterally as a way to share IC.

I merely note for the record that this statement implies you are in a flat organization.  I think this sort of thing works in flattened organizations.  If you are in hierarchy, then you have to artificially flatten it.  Sometimes that is achieved merely by the blog not being face-to-face communication.

RissRoss: The Dream Team

Link: RissRoss: The Dream Team.

First, why does it seem the same URI is used for all XSL stylesheets when the Dummies book says URIs are unique?  Second, I am confused as to what a root node is.  In the Dummies book, it says that a root node "contains all elements, including the document element."  However, I thought the document element encompassed all the information.  Therefore, what exactly is the root node?  the book says it is invisible, and therefore the concept of a root node is hard to comprehend.

The URI is the same because you are using it to indicate that you are doing an XSL stylesheet.  Think of that statement as saying simply, "I am making an XSL stylesheet".  You always say that with the same URI with each stylesheet, but the URI to indicate you are creating a stylesheet vs. something else is unique.

The root node (not element) is confusing.  It is a concept specific to XSLT and means simply what they say in the book, i.e., the very top of the document before anything else.  The document element (also called the document root or root element just to make it worse) is the element that encloses all other elements in an XML document.  Generally, these differences do not make much difference.  However, when you write an XSLT template to match the root node, you need to understand that the root element will be one of its descendants.

Hail to the Victors: Blogs as the catalyst for promoting bottom-up change

Link: Hail to the Victors: Blogs as the catalyst for promoting bottom-up change.

if blogs are an effective means of letting professors know what students are thinking and help them to gage whether or not students understand a particular topic, wouldn’t they also be effective in the business world as a means of direct communication between front line workers and top management?

This is an interesting point.  But RissRoss has an alternative view which comes across most pointedly in this remark:

Second, there is the question of anonymity. Most likely employees would want their comments to be anonymous so as not to be shunned within the business if they make an unpopular remark or because they fear their remarks may have them fired. I am not sure if it would be possible to have an anonymous blog site within the company, it would be an interesting idea to find out more about.

Nick Lapoulas also brought up this very point in a post in early October.  Personally, I wonder about the need for anonymity.  I will note that some people are very conscious of how others might perceive them and worry about issues like anonymity quite a bit.  Others are outspoken and just seem not to care.  I will also note that one of the people who raises the isssue of anonymity is one of our stronger contributtors.  Is she secretly holding back on us?  Would we hear so much more if she were anonymous?  I shudder to think.
I do agree with the notion that one of the key things in getting a blogosphere to work is social engineering.  People have to feel comfortable contributing and motivated.  Motivation is perhaps the hardest part.  Just pure credit does not work.  For instance, we have a solid 10% of the class that is not contributing at all even though 20% of the grade depends on it.  My cut is that there has to be a discourse between the participants, not pure top-down monitoring by management.  To some extent, managers have to be seen as relinquising their roles as superiors and become more like regular team members.