From: Hans Fugal <hans@...>
Date: 2004-09-09T05:55:06+09:00
Subject: Re: YAML transformations

Jamis Buck wrote:

> I know that _why has been doing some of this, for WPGTR. And I've 
> borrowed much of his technique for my Net::SSH and Copland manuals. 
> However, the "transformations" only use YAML for structure, and then 
> RedCloth for the markup. I'm not sure how you'd be able to use YAML 
> (conveniently) for anything other than structure, though...

I like the approach of instiki, to allow either markdown or textile, and 
I think such a templating system ought to employ bluecloth or redcloth 
configurably. (my personal preference is markdown syntax)

> The transformations that I'm currently applying primarily involve 
> converting values from one type to another (e.g., from a Hash to a 
> Chapter). Rendering the converted data types is mostly the work of 
> RedCloth. If you were to automate this somehow, it would be nice to be 
> able to specify the system to use to convert content (RedCloth, 
> BlueCloth, etc.), as well as to provide some kind of schema for 
> automating the translation of "map" or "array" to some other type.

I personally would like to see the strengths of XSLT easily accessible, 
which IMHO are something like XPath and a method of matching 
transformations that goes from general to specific (or is otherwise 
predictable and simple), similar to CSS. There may be others that slip 
my mind; it's been awhile since I've delved into XSLT.

> No concrete ideas for how to do that, though. :) I'll leave that up to you.

If nobody has anything like this out there yet, I may be inclined to 
step up to the plate. Let's keep the ideas coming!