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Subject:RE: RE: Interviewing "under the hood"? (long) From:"Mark Baker" <mbaker -at- ca -dot- stilo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 23 Jun 2003 17:41:47 -0400
> No argument on who should do the donkey work; but at the point
> where markup is transformed from a bit of knowledge in the brain
> to a sequence of keystrokes executed by a spinal ganglion, errors
> occur.
In a properly constructed DTD, such errors would be caught by the validator.
Markup is not random, it is specific, focussed, and tightly constrained. The
ability to catch and correct errors is one of the virtues of a markup
system. It is one of the key reasons for using tight, topical, highly
structured DTDs. You will get a far higher level of consistency and accuracy
from a well constructed markup system than form any WYSIWYG application.
> The value of wysiwyg is that it gives you immediate
> feedback to correct the keystrokes. When a couple of transposed
> markup characters can change a 300-word paragraph from 8/9 pt
> footnote style to 72 pt main title style, .... Well, let's just
> say it ain't pretty ;-)
An automated formatting process constitutes a single-sourcing of the
formatting. You are never going to get one paragraph formatted incorrectly.
It will be all or none. And if its all, you will spot it right away.
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Mark Baker
Stilo Corporation
1900 City Park Drive, Suite 504 , Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1J 1A3
Phone: 613-745-4242, Fax: 613-745-5560
Email mbaker -at- ca -dot- stilo -dot- com
Web: http://www.stilo.com
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