[tei-council] Desktop Roma App?

[John A. Walsh]

As a Java app, it would be easier to embed a Java XQuery solution  
(rather than something like bdbxml).  I wonder if just dropping in  
the saxon8 jar and reading the ODDs off the file system would give  
Amit the XQuery functionality and performance he needs for Byzantium.

John
--
| John A. Walsh
| Associate Director for Projects and Services, Digital Library Program
| Associate Librarian, University Libraries
| Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of English
| Indiana University, 1320 East Tenth Street, Bloomington, IN 47405
| Voice:812-855-8758 Fax:812-856-2062 <mailto:jawalsh at indiana.edu>



On May 28, 2006, at 6:38 AM, Sebastian Rahtz wrote:

> Amit Kumar wrote:
>> Pursuant to our discussions @ Kyoto about the need for desktop Roma
>> app, Is that something council would
>> like me to investigate? I understand that the priority is low in the
>> list of action items, thus want to make sure
>> that  it would be  some use.
> I'd say it was quite important to keep moving in parallel on all  
> fronts.
> The opinion seemed strong that a 100% useable Roma was a prerequisite.
>>
>> I would be most interested to  know what Sebestian and other Roma
>> programming nerds think? My
> not sure who the others are :-}
>
> I think it would be great to have work start on the alternate Roma  
> (aka
> Byzantium),
> if you think you can take it on.
>> initial
>>  inclination is for a Java webstart application that would work on  
>> the
>> desktop and would be able to update
>> itself when Internet is accessible.
> not sure what a webstart application is, to be honest :-}
>
> the main job of a Roma is to create an ODD customization file, and run
> it through the
> scripts which generate schemas or documentation out the end. Providing
> the user with
> information about what they can do involves accessing the TEI P5  
> source
> (eg to get
> lists of modules, list of attributes for an element etc). So you  
> need a
> local "database"
> of some kind to query. webRoma does this by sending XQuery to an eXist
> database.
> When the build process  starts, that too needs access to the  
> "database"
> (which may just
> be an XML file). The XSLT scripts work by either sending XQuery as
> above, or
> just reading the P5 source as an XML document.
>
> So Byzantium has to have the equivalent of the eXist database lying
> around, I suggest.
> For the desktop Java app, I have imagined using Sleepycat dbXML, and
> bundling that
> with the app. Since it too accepts XQuery, it should `just work'.
>
> Does this make sense?
>
> -- 
> Sebastian Rahtz
>
> Information Manager, Oxford University Computing Services
> 13 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6NN. Phone +44 1865 283431
>
> OSS Watch: JISC Open Source Advisory Service
> http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk
>
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