ietf
[Top] [All Lists]

RE: ASCII art

2005-11-23 09:31:42
I would find this problematic.  I often submit in the "final"
form because I started in the "final" form.  I have no *roff
or XML form to submit. 

--> -----Original Message-----
--> From: ietf-bounces(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org 
[mailto:ietf-bounces(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org] 
--> On Behalf Of Henning Schulzrinne
--> Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2005 9:58 AM
--> To: Eliot Lear
--> Cc: Dave Aronson (re IETF); ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
--> Subject: Re: ASCII art
--> 
--> Let me try a concrete proposal:
--> 
--> - All document editors MUST submit XML format to the RFC editor. 
--> (Mostly) semantic markup makes a lot more sense than 
--> presentation mark-up as it makes it possible to translate 
--> the format into a variety of output formats. This format is 
--> the long-term archival format, as it seems highly unlikely 
--> that the world will suddenly forget how to interpret XML in 
--> any timeframe we care about. The schema/DTD is documented 
--> in ASCII, so if an alien invaders take over the (IETF) 
--> world, they can bootstrap, as long as they can figure out English.
--> 
--> - Authors can use Word (or other formats), but must use a 
--> Word style that makes automatic translation to the 2629 XML 
--> possible. I don't know enough about Word internals to know 
--> if Word styles are sufficient to make this possible today, 
--> but with a bit of semantic mark-up (e.g., surround the 
--> abstract with tags), this shouldn't be too hard.
--> 
--> - The XML version is made available to the public and is 
--> the authoritative version, in addition to the traditional 
--> ASCII version. The XML version can then be used to generate 
--> more readable and printable versions using XSLT or other 
--> tools. I suspect generating a PDF version wouldn't be hard, 
--> either. These presentation formats can then evolve as 
--> people care to write tools.
--> 
--> - The XML format also allows the use of UTF-8, for use in 
--> examples, not as normative text. The translation to ASCII 
--> can automatically insert U+ or other appropriate elements.
--> 
--> - SVG or a subset thereof is authorized for illustrative 
--> (non-normative) diagrams. The XML schema already supports 
--> the ability to link alternative renditions of graphics, so 
--> this requires minimal effort.
--> 
--> I think this would actually put us ahead of standards 
--> organizations that use presentation-oriented document 
--> formats that are hard to transform into alternative 
--> renditions now or in the future. None of the above requires 
--> a major change in process, rules or procedures. The only 
--> 'tools' effort would be to create a suitable DOC template. 
--> Given that converting existing late-stage drafts may be 
--> onerous, this can be phased in over time.
--> 
--> Henning
--> 
--> _______________________________________________
--> Ietf mailing list
--> Ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
--> https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf
--> 

_______________________________________________
Ietf mailing list
Ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org
https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf