Re: How to represent step-by-step procedures in XML?

Here's an overly simplistic recipe DTD:
https://cs.au.dk/~amoeller/XML/schemas/dtd-example.html

On Sun, Aug 21, 2022 at 7:07 AM Michael Kay <[email protected]> wrote:

> Also BPEL -
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Process_Execution_Language
>
> Michael Kay
> Saxonica
>
> > On 20 Aug 2022, at 17:54, Stephen D Green <[email protected]>
> wrote:
> >
> > http://docs.oasis-open.org/tamie/xtemp/v1.0/xtemp-v1.0.html
> > ----
> > Stephen D Green
> >
> > On Sat, 20 Aug 2022 at 17:30, Roger L Costello <[email protected]>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi Folks,
> >>
> >> Before I get to my question, please allow me to share a short story.
> >>
> >> Early versions of Fortran did not have high-level programming language
> constructs such as while-loops, so some smart person came along and created
> RATFOR (Rational Fortran), which extended Fortran with several high-level
> constructs. That person then created a preprocessor which converted
> programs expressed in RATFOR into equivalent Fortran programs. For example,
> here is a RATFOR program that uses the high-level while-loop construct:
> >>
> >> while (getc(c) != EOF)
> >>        call putc(c)
> >>
> >> The RATFOR preprocessor converts it to this equivalent Fortran code:
> >>
> >> 10    if (getc(c) .eq. EOF goto 20
> >>                call putc(c)
> >>                goto 10
> >> 20    continue
> >>
> >> Now for my question.
> >>
> >> Question: How to represent step-by-step procedures in XML? The XML
> representation must be:
> >>
> >> Sufficiently detailed and precise that a program could input it and
> carry out the procedure being described. Alternatively, a preprocessor
> could take the description and convert it into an existing programming
> language which may then be executed.
> >> The XML representation must be high-level enough that it is
> understandable by managers.
> >>
> >> What follows is a real-world example to illustrate my question.
> >>
> >> I have a file named ARPT.xml which contains a list of records for all
> the airports in the world. Each record contains data about an airport.
> >>
> >> I have another file named NAV.xml which contains a list of records for
> all the navigation aids (navaids) in the world. Each record contains data
> about a navaid.
> >>
> >> Some navaids are placed in locations to help airplanes fly between
> airports. Other navaids are placed in locations to help airplanes fly in
> and out of airports.
> >>
> >> Some airports are close to each other, so some navaids are used by more
> than one airport. In some cases, the same navaid is used by airports in
> different countries; for example, at the US-Canada border there might be a
> navaid that is shared between airports in the US and Canada.
> >>
> >> Since a navaid may be used by more than one airport, there is a file
> named ANAV.xml that is intermediary between ARPT.xml and NAV.xml; it maps a
> nav ID and country ID to the navaid records for the airport. In other
> words, there is a level of indirection to obtaining the navaid records for
> an airport. We use the airport ID from ARPT.xml as a foreign key into
> ANAV.xml to obtain a set of ANAV records, and for each ANAV record, we use
> its nav ID and country ID as a composite foreign key into NAV.xml. The
> selected NAV records are the airport’s navaids.
> >>
> >> How to represent in XML the procedure for obtaining the navaid records
> for an airport?
> >>
> >> You might wonder, “Why create an XML representation of a procedure?”
> >>
> >> The answer is threefold:
> >>
> >> An XML representation will provide a precise description of how to
> obtain the navaid records for an airport.
> >> With that precise, machine-processable description, I can then use it
> as input into a program that performs the procedure. The program simply,
> blindly follows the description in the XML. Alternatively, a preprocessor
> could take the XML description and convert it into an existing programming
> language that may then be executed.
> >> The procedure I just described is one of many procedures that I need to
> capture. Many of the procedures are more complicated than the one I
> described above. A standard, machine-processable way to express all
> procedures will prove invaluable.
> >>
> >> Here is one possible XML representation of the procedure:
> >>
> >> <Procedure>
> >>    <variable name="ARPT.XML" select="doc('ARPT.xml')"/>
> >>    <variable name="ANAV.XML" select="doc('ANAV.xml')"/>
> >>    <variable name="NAV.XML" select="doc('NAV.xml')"/>
> >>    <airports>
> >>        <for-each select="$ARPT.XML/record">
> >>           <airport>
> >>                <variable name="airport-ID" select="child::airport-ID" />
> >>                <for-each select="child::*">
> >>                    <copy-of select="."/>
> >>                </for-each>
> >>                <for-each select="$ANAV.XML/record[child::airport-ID eq
> $airport-ID]">
> >>                    <variable name="country-ID"
> select="child::country-ID']" />
> >>                    <variable name="nav-ID" select="child::nav-ID" />
> >>                    <for-each select="$NAV.XML/record[child::nav-ID eq
> $nav-ID][child::country-ID eq $country-ID">
> >>                        <navaid>
> >>                            <for-each select="child::*">
> >>                                <copy-of select="."/>
> >>                            </for-each>
> >>                        </navaid>
> >>                    </for-each>
> >>                </for-each>
> >>            </airport>
> >>        </for-each>
> >>    </airports>
> >> </Procedure>
> >>
> >> Readers may recognize that as XSLT code, minus the xsl namespace prefix.
> >>
> >> That XML representation is simply not acceptable. It probably can be
> understood by a developer who knows XSLT, but to most developers and to
> most managers it is pure gibberish. It is analogous to the Fortran shown
> about.
> >>
> >> I am seeking a high-level XML representation, one that is
> understandable by a manager and at the same time is sufficiently detailed
> that it can be executed, or I can write a preprocessor which converts it
> into equivalent lower-level programming language code (analogous to how the
> RATFOR preprocessor converts programs written in the high-level RATFOR into
> equivalent low-level Fortran).
> >>
> >> I seek your suggestions on a high-level XML representation of the
> airport/navaid procedure I described.
> >>
> >> /Roger
> >>
> >>
> >
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