Yes, I'm very familiar with XSLT, XPath and related XML technologies. I co-authored a book on XSLT with a friend of mine back in 2002, and have been working with XML in various ways ever since.
For what it's worth: The early versions of TAMC converted DAISY and NIMAS into various other formats without converting first to a canonical format, and it was admittedly kind of a mess. The new file import libraries I've written as part of the foundation for the new version of TAMC convert to a canonical format first and then performs all operations on that standardized model - much, much cleaner.
Cheers Chris On Jun 6, 2011, at 8:39 PM, John J. Boyer wrote:
I have considered leaving all Daisy and html files as is and usingsemantic-action files as liblouisutdml does. However, i think this wouldbe inadequate for what BrailleBlaster is to do. liblouisutdml doesn['t manipulate the files, except for adding utdml when requested. BrailleBlaster will have the capability to manipulate files. Thesemantic-action-file approach is probably inadequate. Manipulation willbe much easier if all files are converted to a common format. This is probably not hard to do, if we have someone who really knows xslt. I wouldn't be surprised if Chris does. The flavor of the xml or html document can be detected while it is being read in as soon as xom getsthe root element. The flavor can also be specified by other means if theroot element is ambiguous. John B. On Mon, Jun 06, 2011 at 06:49:11PM -0700, John Gardner wrote:I agree, but should we convert them all to a common format? Myunderstanding of UTDML is that it is not necessary. If so then maybe we should just leave all DAISY flavors as is. The idea of UTDML is that the DAISY file is still there but with lots of other content included. In fact, maybe we should leave all standard HTML and XML imports "as is". John B, isthis a stupid idea? John G John G -----Original Message----- From: brailleblaster-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx[mailto:brailleblaster-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of John J. BoyerSent: Monday, June 06, 2011 6:43 PM To: brailleblaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [brailleblaster] Re: Importing FilesSo what flavor of DAISY will BrailleBlaster use as its native format? Isuppose the latest. Earlier versions can be converted easily, so we should import all of them. John B. On Mon, Jun 06, 2011 at 06:04:16PM -0700, John Gardner wrote:Chris, I understand the new DAISY format, at least to some extent. Wemustcertainly be able to import EPUB 3 into BrailleBlaster. That's not a big problem, since it is, after all, HTML. But HTML5 does include MathML andSVG, which we already intend to use. No problem there I trust.It is not quite so clear that we should also import DAISY 4. However if DAISY 4 will be used to author DAISY with braille information, then we should support it. It is my understanding that it will be used for thatpurpose, but I not 100% certain I am right. John G -----Original Message----- From: brailleblaster-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx[mailto:brailleblaster-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Chris von SeeSent: Monday, June 06, 2011 3:50 PM To: brailleblaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [brailleblaster] Re: Importing Files The link that Susan references is for the Authoring and Interchange format. The next version of DAISY uses ePub 3.0 (aka DAISY 4.0 Part B) as its distribution format, which is what most end users will end up with. There's a brief blurb about this in the DAISY Consortium 2010 Annual Report: "The convergence of the DAISY 4 distribution format with EPUB 3 willopen up great opportunities for readers with print disabilities. It is our responsibility to continue our involvement in and influence on theimplementation of fully accessible EPUB 3 in commercial e-books as well as in non-commercial information such as public information, information necessary for political decision making, and disaster preparedness information. The DAISY Consortium's endorsement of accessible EPUB 3 content will require an even greater effort by the Consortium in collaboration with print disability communities around the world, to influence the accessibility of mainstream e-book publications."http://data.daisy.org/publications/docs//ann_report_2010/AnnualReport2010.html?q=publications/docs/ann_report_2010/AnnualReport2010.html On Jun 6, 2011, at 2:59 PM, Susan Jolly wrote:With a growing number of apps adding "Save as DAISY" options, I'd focus first on getting BrailleBlaster to work with DAISY files. If BrailleBlaster provides unique features that users need and can't easily obtain elsewhere then that should motivate them to find some method to convert any non-DAISY files to DAISY so they can use BrailleBlaster. Another important consideration is that the next-generation DAISY XML format known as ZedAI has already been developed and is currently under review. So this is not a good time to be investing a lot of resources in the old DAISY format. You can read more here: http://www.daisy.org/zw/ZedAI_UserDocumentation SusanJ-- John J. Boyer; President, Chief Software Developer Abilitiessoft, Inc. http://www.abilitiessoft.com Madison, Wisconsin USA Developing software for people with disabilities-- John J. Boyer; President, Chief Software Developer Abilitiessoft, Inc. http://www.abilitiessoft.com Madison, Wisconsin USA Developing software for people with disabilities
