I also think this is a wise thing to do, though I can't seem to see the xml.smalltalk.org domain to look at the details. Squeak could certainly take the lead here quite easily while the paint's still wet. Also, given the recent excellent work on encryption showing up on the list :), along with the earlier DSA support, we could build a system for "trusted" object interchange ala Perl's Penguin.

An earlier pass at XML-based interchange is XML-RPC http://www.xmlrpc.com/, which is a very lightweight RPC mechanism.

Incidentally, we've ported the "open source" InDelv XML parser http://www.indelv.com , but we're not quite sure what to do with it. It's based a lot on the Java/DOM implementation and stresses portability across Smalltalks, thus not particularly Squeaky, but it works. If anyone from Indelv is lurking, please contact me so we can do what it takes to make it available in a manner consistent with the Indelv and Squeak licenses.

The toy XML parser I wrote earlier is much farther along now, and fits more in the Squeaky way of thinking, so it might make a suitable alternative. Hopefully I can get it out for people to play with soon.

Regards -

-- Duane

Hi,

I think it's important that we have a "XML" ASCII standard for storing BOTH "Smalltalk source code" and "Smalltalk object instances". Interoperatability is becoming very important and being able to share object instances with other languages and systems would revolutionize the Smalltalk usage in the real world.

In addition I think it's important that there be an Apache Web Server module for Smalltalk. A ModSmalltalk. Any computer language that tightly intergrates and interoperates with the Apache Web server in an Open Source manner can gain prominance in the Web Site and Web Applications Market. Smalltalk has an excellent potential to be the engine behind many powerful, yet to be built, web sites.

Please see http://xml.smalltalk.org and http://mod.smalltalk.org for more of this discussion...

All the best,

Peter William Lount peter@smalltalk.org http://www.smalltalk.org http://mod.smalltalk.org http://xml.smalltalk.org

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=================================================== Duane Maxwell dmaxwell (at) entrypoint.com CTO http://www.entrypoint.com EntryPoint, Inc. (858)348-3040 FAX(858)348-3100

Information contained herein is my personal opinion and not necessarily that of EntryPoint. ===================================================