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Don, The popular media seems to already be trying to whip this issue into something sensational. The XFDL and XFA technologies are *very* different. For my part, I continually try to spread the word that XFA is not intended to be competitive to HTML. Rather, we are looking to the successful evolution of technologies like [X]HTML and SVG as one way that we can deliver a browser-based experience via the presentation of XFA through HTML and SVG, etc. I think it would be foolish for anyone to attempt to invent a markup language that competes with HTML. XFA doesn't. I steer clear from calling XFA a markup language. Rather it is a higher level abstraction of a form, its presentation, business logic, etc. --- think of it as a modeling language. The reality is that JetForm's customers live in a transitional world spanning the realities of paper, thick-client applications, and browser-based solutions such as HTML. XFA models the form independent of these particular realities. A colleague of mine (Rob McDougall) has a further analogy. He describes how within specific disciplines there are 'special purpose vocabularies' that facilitate communication in a more succinct and accurate manner. For instance, physicists communicate in such a vocabulary with words that convey concepts specific to the realm of physics in a very concise manner. The words themselves are more successful at communicating when compared to (in my case) plain English. It may be possible to communicate in this realm using plain English that is free of this special vocabulary, but it will surely be more wordy, difficult, and more prone to missing the subtle nuances that are embedded within the special vocabulary. Note how this special vocabulary is not competitive to the larger language, rather it is complementary. XFA is one such special vocabulary. Gavin. ======================================================== Gavin F. McKenzie mailto:gmckenzi@j... Systems Architect Vox:+1(613)230-3676 JetForm Corporation or:+1(613)751-4800 ext 5277 http://www.jetform.com Fax:+1(613)751-4864 ======================================================== > -----Original Message----- > From: Don Park [mailto:donpark@q...] > Sent: Monday, July 05, 1999 1:22 AM > To: xml-dev@i... > Subject: RE: XML for forms > > > > I haven't detected any real overwhelming momentum at W3C to launch > > an ambitious e-forms standardization project, although I seem to > > recall that some WG or other has the mandate to enrich & extend > > HTML forms... -T. > > Perhaps the three groups (XFA, XFDL, and HTML forms) should > get together > outside W3C to create an XHTML module for rich form support. It is my > opinion that there is no clear winner in this area and there > are many other > e-form companies preparing to jump in. Either that or > another round of > catfight is needed to clear up the air. > > Don > > > xml-dev: A list for W3C XML Developers. To post, > mailto:xml-dev@i... > Archived as: http://www.lists.ic.ac.uk/hypermail/xml-dev/ and > on CD-ROM/ISBN 981-02-3594-1 > To (un)subscribe, mailto:majordomo@i... the following message; > (un)subscribe xml-dev > To subscribe to the digests, mailto:majordomo@i... the > following message; > subscribe xml-dev-digest > List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (mailto:rzepa@i...) > xml-dev: A list for W3C XML Developers. To post, mailto:xml-dev@i... Archived as: http://www.lists.ic.ac.uk/hypermail/xml-dev/ and on CD-ROM/ISBN 981-02-3594-1 To (un)subscribe, mailto:majordomo@i... the following message; (un)subscribe xml-dev To subscribe to the digests, mailto:majordomo@i... the following message; subscribe xml-dev-digest List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (mailto:rzepa@i...)
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