[Htmlparser-developer] RE: [Htmlparser-user] version 1.5

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I'm a big fan of server-side transforms.  That is, scanning an HTML =
document and transforming parts of it into custom markup and/or DHTML.  =
I do this using a servlet filter in Tomcat.

I'm currently using an older version of the library (from 08/24/2003) -- =
before the major code changes were made, mostly because I've been too =
busy working on other things to port my code to the new APIs.  I hope to =
get to it eventually!  :)

However, if you're looking for feedback, then here's what I would find =
useful in the library.  It may or may not already do the following to =
certain degrees.  But if anything in this list can be made easy(ier) =
than I'm all for it:

- scan an HTML page for "custom" XML/HTML tags embedded within the HTML
- maintain both the original HTML and the location of the XML "islands" =
within it
- provide mechanisms to parse different kinds of custom tags, including =
the following:
	- very simple tags (like <br>)
	- value-only tags (like <a>value</a>)
	- composite tags (like <ul>)
	- tags that contain "anything", which the parser simply skips over
	(similar to <script>, but even dumber so that all it looks for is the =
closing tag)

- APIs that allow the definition of the custom tags (above) without =
having to create a custom scanner and tag class for each one

For illustrative purposes, here's an example of what some of my custom =
tags look like:

<html>
<body>
<h2>Here is the chart</h2>
<Component name=3D"myChart" incorporates=3D"Chart">
  <String name=3D"backgroundColor" value=3D"white"/>
  <String name=3D"foregroundColor" value=3D"black"/>
  <Number name=3D"width" value=3D"200"/>
  <Number name=3D"height" value=3D"400"/>
  <Reference name=3D"data" value=3D"dataModel"/>
  <Method name=3D"changeSize">
    <Param name=3D"width"/>
    <Param name=3D"height"/>
    <Impl>
      // This is javascript code
      this.width.set(width);
      this.height.set(height);
      this.render();
    </Impl>
  </Method>
</Component>
<hr>
blah blah .... (more HTML) ....

</body>
</html>

Hope this helps!
Marc

-----Original Message-----
From: Derrick Oswald [mailto:Der...@Ro...]
Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2004 4:40 AM
To: htm...@li...;
htm...@li...
Subject: [Htmlparser-user] version 1.5

Now that version 1.4 is nearly put to bed, it's time to look forward=20
into the future to visualize or 'blue sky' the features that could be=20
incorporated in the next version of the parser. There are a small number =

of feature requests that have accumulated over the last few months that=20
can serve as a starting point:=20
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=3D24399&atid=3D381402

But what is really required are some real use-cases that aren't=20
addressed by the curent parser, which will lead to real requirements,=20
which lead to real features that can be added to the parser for the next =

version. What does everyone do with the htmlparser that could be built=20
into it? Or more to the point, what capabilities are lacking that cause=20
a developer to *not* use htmlparser and do it themselves some other way? =

Does anybody have any ideas? Does anybody have some applications they=20
would like to add to the htmlparser codebase so that 'out-of-the-box' it =

does what they want? In general, what directions should development=20
take, i.e. HTML correction or editing, XML, robots, server side=20
transforms etc.? Has anybody got some pet peeves they want cleared up?=20
Come on, give it up. Now's the time.

Derrick

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