Emacs error

[Karsten Wade]

On Mon, 2004-09-06 at 09:15, Dave Pawson wrote:
> On Mon, 2004-09-06 at 16:52, Karsten Wade wrote:
> 
> > > Yes, either as Karsten says,
> > > or the emacs way;
> > 
> > Please don't do as Dave says, unless he can truly fix this problem.
> Its not a problem Karsten. Its the way psgml is supposed to work?

Something can work as it's supposed to and still be a problem. :)

For example, we have two different indenting behaviors depending on
which method we choose to get a file to parse.  That is a problem.  It
doesn't matter if they methods are, in themselves, working correctly. :)

> 
> > 
> > If you use a Local Variable instead of a .ced file, the indenting is off
> > by two;
> so address that problem? Unrelated to finding the schema?
> 
> > I assume Dave would then run the file through an XSLT before doing XML
> > diffs[1].  That seems like a lot of steps to me.
> No. I keep saying (OK once :-) that plain text diffs on xml are 
> ... not right.

Oh, good, we're in agreement.

> > If you use a Local Variable, and the rest of the project is using .ced
> > files, then doing a diff on your file with an editor is going to be
> > impossible.
> Thats a project weakness. Nothing to do with schema location.

Okay ... but the solution to a project weakness is not to suggest that
people just start doing things a different way.  We're having enough
challenges managing things as they are.

> > I've run these experiments numerous times, but if someone can point out
> > the error in my method to let us use Local Variable, I am more than
> > happy to use this easier method. 
> 
> The error is using the wrong tools.

What is the wrong tool?  Using a .ced file built from a parent XML file
to parse a child XML file?

> I edit pretty large xml files in emacs quite a lot.
> I also use nxml-mode with xml-mode and believe me
> hacking that 4 liner to the bottom of the file
> is the easier option.

Then perhaps we should abandon the .ced files and use Local Variable
instead?  Wouldn't get any objections from me!

>   If you are bothered by the indents,

I'm not bothered by them until I have to reconcile two authors/editors
who are using different methods.

The difference between a random bunch of documents stored together and
an organized, quality document project is a) consistent methodology, and
b) sticking to a) until everyone agrees to change the method.

My request is, if you have an idea of how to do something better than
our current methodology, please *suggest* it as a new solution, and
we'll get a quick consensus and move forward.  Telling new users to just
do something different from what is laid out in our project guide is
confusing for the user and detrimental to the project.

- Karsten
-- 
Karsten Wade, RHCE, Tech Writer
a lemon is just a melon in disguise
http://people.redhat.com/kwade/
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