[ruby-talk:11859] Re: RCR: Input XML support in the base Ruby

David Alan Black <[e-mail]> writes:

> On Fri, 2 Mar 2001, Dave Thomas wrote:
> 
> > TAKAHASHI Masayoshi <[e-mail]> writes:
> > 
> > > Expat is shared library like gdbm, Tk, GTk or GNU readline.
> > > These libraries is not included in Ruby core. Should we
> > > include expat into Ruby core?
> > 
> > If that's what it takes, I'd say 'yes' (although during the build
> > process, perhaps we should look for an already installed and
> > compatible expat and use that if available).
> 
> That would be my major concern -- the implications for the build
> process, and for tracking what platforms Ruby would build on.  And
> keeping (or not keeping) the Ruby distribution in sync with expat
> releases.

Agreed (although expat has pretty minimal system dependencies).

What would it take to write a non-validating parser in Ruby? (Or is
there one already?)

> > If the stuff included in the 'ext' directory is chosen based on need,
> > then I'd rank XML/UConv support over Tcl/Tk and dbm/gdbm/sdbm support.
> 
> I would too, probably -- though then again the Ruby distribution
> doesn't actually include Tcl/Tk themselves, so the issues (such as
> they are) may be different.

That's a good point.

My drive to do this comes from a couple of frustrating incidents. For
example, I wanted to distribute the 'ri' files in XML format. That
would have been really good: not only could 'ri' use them, but people
could write their own code to manipulate and present the data. But: I
couldn't rely on people having xmlparser installed, and I wanted to
make ri as widely applicable as possible, so I was forced to convert
my lovely XML files into a non-standard format. Everyone loses out.

I;d love to find a way to make this one fly.


Dave